By The Way
by LongHardRoadOuttaHell
Summary: What has to happen for two friends to realize they're what each other needs most? Troyella.
1. Trailer

**A/N: Here's a small idea I came up with at like 4am. I'm not sure if I'm going to make a story out of it, it depends on people's response to it. If I was to write this I'd definitely continue The Look In Your Eyes, so let me know what you think. (It'll end up being a Troyella!)**

_What happens when a boy loves a girl?_

"I can't help feel jealous, Chad. She's just fucking perfect."

"She's with Brain, dude. You have to get over her."

_And she gets hurt?_

"This will make sure fucking Bolton doesn't want you anymore."

_Can her friends help her to overcome her pain?_

"Come on Gabi, we'll hang out tonight, just a few of us."

"I'm not sure, Tay.."

_Or will they just mess her life up more?_

"We can play truth or dare, that's always fun."

"Okay, I'll be there."

_Will a game of truth or dare finally tip her over the edge?_

"Gabi, I dare you to kiss Troy."

….

"Wow."

_Or will it be just the thing to help her realise that she has what she needs in her best friend?_

"Troy, we dare you to try out for the musical with Gabi."

"But guys, My Dad'll never let me be in the musical with basketball."

"It's a dare dude, you gotta do it."

_Can she learn to trust again?_

"Brie, I promise I'll never you hurt, baby."

"I know you won't Troy."

_Or will his personal life tear him away from her?_

"Troy, I'm forbidding you to see Gabriella again. And you can forget about the musical."

"Dad, Gabriella is important to me. You can't stop me from seeing her."

"You have basketball to worry about, Troy. That scholarship's what is important. Not your little girlfriend."

Troy Bolton.

Gabriella Montez.

Chad Danforth.

Taylor McKessie.

Kelsi Nielsen.

Zeke Baylor.

Jason Cross.

Sharpay Evans.

Ryan Evans.

**Review and let me know what you think, guys!**


	2. Parallel Universe

**Okay! I had some good feedback on this so here's the first chapter for you guys all to read! If you hadn't worked out, Troy, Chad and Gabriella are best friends. Enjoy!**

"Hey Bolton." Came a sweet, familiar voice. Troy turned around from his locker and found his best friend Gabriella standing there, a grin on her face.

"Trust you to be smiling on the first day of school, geek." Troy teased, rolling his eyes at her.

"Trust you to forget to zip your fly, perv." Gabriella shot back, her eyes shifting to his crotch and back up to his face, noticing a small blush appear as Troy quickly pulled the zip up, huffing at her as he took out a few books and stuffed them into his backpack.

"Trust you to notice. What were you looking down there for anyways?" Troy asked, slightly curious and it was Gabriella's turn to blush. She was just about to answer when she felt a pair of hands slip around her waist and a body against her own. Gabriella sighed inwardly as she heard his voice.

"Hey honey." The voice said from behind her, and Troy's face dropped as he looked up to see who it was. His eyes becoming dark with anger as he watched the boy wrap his arms tighter around Gabriella's waist. Gabriella turned around and flashed a sweet smile at her boyfriend of six months, Brian Eastall

"Hey." She replied, reaching up to kiss him gently. Troy rolled his eyes at the public display of attention, but the couple didn't notice. He shut his locker with a slight slam, letting his anger out and the sound caused Gabriella and Brian to break apart slightly.

"Bye Gabriella." He scoffed, walking off towards home room leaving his best friend stunned at his reaction. She knew he didn't like Brian, but he usually was able to keep his feelings to himself when they older guy was around, out of respect for her. Troy, Gabriella and their group of friends were all Juniors at East High whereas Brian was in his senior year, and Gabriella knew her best friends Troy and Chad didn't approve of her relationship with Brian who didn't have a good track record with girls. Brian was a known player and also captain of the football team, which made it just hat much easier to get any girl in the school he wanted. And sometimes girls he didn't even particularly want, he just could get them.

"What was his problem?" Brian asked his girlfriend as he linked his fingers through Gabriella's and they headed in the direction Troy had just stormed off in, towards Gabriella's homeroom.

"Troy doesn't like the first day of school." Gabriella informed him quite lamely, just making up an excuse off the top of her head. She knew her best friend couldn't stand to see her kiss Brian, but he was her boyfriend and Troy was really just going to have to get used to it, in Gabriella's opinion. The couple came to the door of Gabriella's home room and Gabriella dropped Brian's hand, turning towards the door. She paused and gave him a small wave before she headed inside, instantly noticing Troy sitting in the middle of the first row, his eyes looking dull and sad, something that upset her knowing it was her that caused it. She started to walk towards Troy, determined to put a smile back on his face.

"Hey Wildcat." She said happily, her dark eyes sparkling as she stood in front of the desk Troy was occupying. He looked up at her for a second as he replied.

"Not now, Gabriella." He said flatly, returning his eyes to the wooden desk. Gabriella stood still, shocked for a second that he had used her full name for the second time in only a few minutes. She couldn't remember a time Troy had used her full name except when he was really mad or upset at her, and the thought made her realise that his feelings had really been hurt, for some reason, when he saw her and Brian kiss at the lockers. Gabriella sighed and headed towards her seat in the back row, knowing if Troy had of called her Brie or Bee, or any other nickname she wouldn't have this knot in her stomach. Troy didn't watch her go because he noticed his curly-haired friend had entered the classroom and seen their little conversation, if you could even call it that.

"What was that?" Chad asked as he slipped into the seat next to Troy, not turning his eyes to his best friend because he was busy watching as his girlfriend Taylor left his side to go and sit with Gabriella in the back. When Taylor had sat in her seat and flashed a smile at Chad, he turned back to face Troy, and noticed his best friend's face drained of colour.

"I got mad this morning when Brie kissed Brian." Troy confessed weakly, shaking his head.

"He is her boyfriend."

"I know, but I think. I don't know, Chad. I don't like the guy, but this morning, I think I was jealous of him." Troy said softly before letting his head drop into his hands.

"Woah, dude. Back it up!" Chad shouted out, causing the other students to look at him and Troy. Chad clasped his hands over his mouth.

"I can't help feel jealous, Chad. She's just fucking perfect." Troy hissed.

"She's with Brain, dude." Chad replied sadly. "You have to get over her."

"I know, I know." Troy muttered.

"It's not like she'd want your ugly self anyways." He teased, trying to get a smile onto Troy's face, just as Gabriella had tried a few minutes earlier.

"God Chad, do you have to be such fucking unserious about everything?" Troy asked angrily.

"Well I can see you're in a pleasant mood, so I'm going to go see the ladies before Darbus arrives and ruins the morning." Chad stated dryly, getting up and heading towards Taylor and Gabriella who were watching the exchange between the two boys with worried looks on their faces, both knew that something serious was up with their friend. Troy put his head back in his hands as he realized his two best friends were now mad at him. And homeroom hadn't even started on the first day of the year. This was going to be a shit of a day.

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Troy sat as he watched his friends around the lunch table. Chad was stealing fries off Taylor's plate as she was too busy talking to Kelsi to realise. Zeke and Jason were talking about their first training session of the year that morning and how the Coach had made them work way harder than last season. Troy's eyes fell on the couple directly across from him. Brian had his arms wrapped around Gabriella's waist and was whispering in her ear, causing her eyes to go wide and a giggle to escape out of her mouth. Troy rolled his eyes at the couple as he turned his attention back to his lunch, trying to forget that he had managed to piss off each and every one of his friends at some point today. Including Kelsi who never got mad at anyone. Troy excused himself from the table and fled the cafeteria, heading towards his secret spot, unaware that he was being followed by a certain dark haired beauty. It wasn't until he heard her footsteps coming towards him as he lent against the railing, looking at the school below that he realized she was there, and he knew it was her without even turning around.

"Troy, what's wrong today?" She asked softly as she came to a stand next to him. Troy looked at his best friend and the look on her face that showed him she was really worried made him look away sharply before he did something pathetic like cry.

"I'm just having an off day." He said softly. "I'm sorry for acting like a jackass this morning, Brie."

"You're forgiven, wildcat." Gabriella said, nudging his arm gently with her head. Troy lifted up his arm so he could put it around her shoulders, pulling her to his side. Gabriella wrapped her arms around her best friend's waist, giving him a tight hug.

"Are you coming over tonight? It's Dad's birthday." Troy asked. His parents and Gabriella's Mom were the best of friends, which had influenced their own friendship. "Chad's parents will be there too." He added.

"I might come for supper, I'm going over to Brian's house." She said the last bit softly, not wanting to upset Troy even more. He nodded softly.

"You should." He said, struggling to put a smile on his face. The bell went and Gabriella linked her arm through Troy's.

"Come on, Bolton. We've got history!" She exclaimed, laughing as Troy finally showed real emotion, a look of immediate disgust.

"Ew. History." He said in a mockily high tone.

"Come on now, Sharpay." Gabriella teased, referring to the blonde drama queen of their school Sharpay Evans who always used the term "ew." The pair entered the classroom and sat down together. This was their only class together where none of their other friends were and despite Troy not liking the subject itself, he loved the company.

Their history teacher Mr. Roswell got called out of the classroom about halfway through the lesson and the class took the opportunity to chat while their strict teacher was out of earshot.

"Brie, can I look at your notes, please? I think I copied something down wrong." Troy asked and Gabriella slipped her book towards him, watching her best friend furrow his brow as he bit on the end of his biro pen, his blue eyes quickly scanning her notes as he tried to find the bit he wanted. When he found it he quickly released the pen from his mouth, holding it in the awkward way he had always held his pens and pencils since they were little. Gabriella continued to watch as he scribbled down her notes in his messy writing, pausing every now and then to reread what he'd written, completely unaware that she was watching him. When he was finished he started to twirl the pen in his fingers as he pushed her book back towards her with his other hand.

"Thank, Brie." He said with a smile, continuing to twirl the pen.

"That's some talent you've got there." Gabriella teased.

"Bet you can't do better, Montez." Troy challenged and Gabriella picked up her own pen, holding it in her fingers how Troy was and tried to twirl it but the pen just got tangled up in her fingers. She shot Troy a look when he started to laugh at her and she attempted it again. And failed once more.

"How the heck do you twirl it?" She asked in frustration. Troy reached over to cover her hand with his own, showing Gabriella the right way to move her fingers. But the feel of Troy's hand against her own caused Gabriella's breath to catch in her throat and she didn't notice he was talking her through the steps as she felt her chest grow tight as she looked up into his sparkling eyes.

"Bee?" He asked gently, reaching over to touch her cheek lightly, causing Gabriella to jump and return her attention to Troy.

"What?" Gabriella asked in a startled voice.

"You alright?" Troy asked, and Gabriella nodded her head slowly, seeing that Troy's hand was still wrapped around her own she snatched her hand away, trying to steady her breathing.

"_This is Troy, for god's sake._" She thought. "_My best friend, Troy. So why is he making my heart skip like this?"_

Troy watched his best friend suspiciously as she sat slumped in her chair, her eyes unfocused as she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. He was just about to ask Gabriella if she was okay when Mr. Roswell came back into the classroom and the talking ceased, leaving Troy still in confusion about Gabriella's behaviour. Once the class was over Troy and Gabriella left the classroom together, heading to their next class which was English with Chad and Taylor. Once the pair got to their classroom they sat down in two seats next to each other and a few minutes later Taylor and Chad arrived and sat in the two seats behind Troy and Gabriella. Chad was glad of their seating arrangement because it meant he could watch his two best friends' interactions. When the teacher Ms. Davis called the class to attention and Gabriella settled back into her chair Troy couldn't help but watch her. Chad noticed this and he scooted his chair closer to Taylor's and started writing on the blank page of his workbook so him and Taylor wouldn't get in trouble for talking during class.

"Did Gabi tell you why Troy was being such an ass to everyone this morning?" He wrote in his large, scrawled writing on the paper. Taylor's eyes scanned the page before she wrote her reply.

"Something about her kissing Brian and him flipping out? Explain please!" She wrote back in her perfect script.

"Yeah he flipped. He told me he felt jealous of Brian. I think our boy like Gabi. Watch them." He wrote, nodding his head at the pair who were scribbling on a piece of paper between them. They were playfully nudging each other and Gabriella was giggling at what Troy had written on the paper. Gabriella's giggling caught Ms. Davis' attention and she looked at the pair with narrowed eyes.

"Mr. Bolton, Miss Montez. You have interrupted my class for the entire lesson so far. You will both have an hour's detention with me after school today, which happens to be right after this lesson. And if I have to speak to you again it'll be every day this week." The teacher scolded, but the pair didn't look fazed and Taylor and Chad guessed it was because they actually wanted some alone time.

"Miss? Troy has basketball practice straight after school. Coach won't be happy if he's not there." Chad piped up, knowing Troy wasn't caring if he missed practice if it meant he'd get to see Gabi.

"Tough luck, Mr. Danforth. Mr. Bolton should've thought of the consequences before he interrupted other students learning." Chad sighed as he slipped lower into his seat, now dreading practice cause he knew their Coach would be incredibly pissed off Troy had a detention and he'd make the other boys work harder. Chad sulked until the bell rung, signaling the end of the day.

"Miss Montez. Mr. Bolton, you two may stay in your seats, everyone I'll see you tomorrow." Ms Davis announced. Chad shot Troy a look as he left the classroom behind Taylor.

"I have to go and collect some things from another teacher. I'll be back in about twenty minutes." Ms Davis said as she got up from her desk and shot the pair a look before exiting the room, shutting the door behind herself.

Troy and Gabriella started to laugh uncontrollably, though neither were quite sure why, but it felt good.

"My Dad's going to be so mad." Troy said once they'd calmed down. "First practice and I'm in detention."

"Brian's going to be mad. There's no way I'll be ready for him when he comes to pick me up. I'll be luckily if I've finished the walk home."

"How'd you get to school?" Troy asked.

"Chad." Gabriella answered with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"I'll take you home, it's not like it's out of my way or anything, right?" Troy said with a laugh.

"It's handy when your neighbors both happen to have their own cars." Gabriella giggled.

"But, you'll owe me something, Montez." Troy said, the statement coming out more seductive than he intended. Gabriella raised her eyebrow at Troy as he stuttered out an excuse. "I uh, I didn't um, mean it like, you know, that?"

"Relax, Troy." Gabriella giggled, taking his hand in her own. As soon as their skin touched the pair stopped in their tracks, and both felt their breathing increase rapidly as blue eyes met brown. Gabriella gulped as she realized how much she wanted to feel his lips on hers at that moment. She started to lean forward, licking her lips gently as Troy slipped his arms around Gabriella's waist, pulling her closer to him. Gabriella shifted slightly off her seat, allowing Troy to pull her down on his lap, both forgetting about their situations as their lips finally met.

"Mmm." Gabriella moaned gently as Troy's lips worked against her own, knowing perfectly what she liked, though she wasn't sure how. As Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's neck he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entrance to her mouth. Gabriella felt Troy slip his tongue into her mouth and she started to move her tongue against his own, their moves perfectly fitting with the other persons' as the kiss quickly intensified. Gabriella pulled back from Troy as she heard the classroom door handle turn and she planted herself back in her own seat, pulling her work book towards her so she could pretend to be busy.

If Ms Davis thought the teens were up to no good she didn't mention it. She just sat back at her desk and the room stayed silent, besides the scratching of Troy and Gabriella's pens against their paper as they wasted away the time, occasionally stealing glances at each other.

"Okay, you two may go. But any more interruptions in class and this will be happening again, got it?" Ms Davis asked. The teenagers apologized before they rushed out of the class and into the empty halls, going to first Troy's locker and then Gabriella's before heading to Troy's truck.

"Your chariot awaits." He teased, speaking the first words since they made out. Gabriella climbed into the truck and Troy went around to the other side and got into the drivers seat, starting the engine. As Troy pulled out the parking lot Gabriella began to speak.

"Troy, what happened in there. I shouldn't of done that." She said softly.

"Brie, it happened, and we can't change it, but if you want to forget about it, then we can." Troy said, although he knew he wouldn't be able to forget the way her lips felt on his, or the way her tongue danced in his mouth or the way… Gabriella's words broke him from his thoughts.

"That's the thing Troy. I don't want to forget about it. I want more. But I can't."

"Why not, Bee? What's stopping you?" Troy asked, taking his eyes off the road for a second as he looked up to see tears in Gabriella's eyes.

"Brian." She whispered softly.

"Do you love him, Brie?" Troy asked seriously. When Gabriella didn't answer Troy looked over at her, noticing she was shaking her head rapidly.

"No, I don't love him, Troy. I've tried to break up with him, but he doesn't handle it well. He says he can't live without me, and that if I wasn't in his life he might as well be dead." Gabriella said, her voice barely above a whispered. Troy pulled the car to the curb outside Gabriella's house.

"Brie, come here." Troy whispered, pulling her across the seat until Gabriella was in his arms, sobbing. "He has no right to make you feel like you have to go out with him." He cooed.

"Tonight Troy. When I go out with him tonight I'm going to end it, okay?" She asked through her tears which Troy promptly wiped away with the pad of his thumb.

"Okay, Bee. Then come over to my Dad's birthday dinner, okay? I'll pick you up if he won't bring you home." Troy kissed her gently on her forehead before Gabriella got out the truck, smiling softly at Troy and making his heart skip.

"I'll see you later, Troy." Gabriella said as she shut the door, heading up the path to her house as Troy watched her, hoping for her sake that the night went her way and Brian didn't make a scene. He drove his car the very small distance to his own drive, parked it and then got out, preparing for the wrath he knew would be his Dad as he'd missed practice and had been distracted at practice in free period as well.

"I'm home." Troy called out as he walked into the house.

"In the kitchen, honey." Called our Troy's Mom Rebecca. Troy dropped his backpack by the front door as headed into the kitchen, expecting to just see his Mom in there, preparing food for his Dad's birthday dinner. But Jack was in there as well.

"Hey Mom, Dad." Troy said softly as he headed to the fridge.

"Don't have anything to eat, Troy. Everyone will be here for dinner in about half an hour."

"I'm just grabbing some water, Mom." Troy chuckled, holding up the bottle of water like a peace offering.

"Do you know if Gabriella is coming?" Rebecca asked.

"She's going to come later. She's going out with Brian before hand. But Chad and Taylor are coming so I won't be stuck with you oldies." Troy joked.

"Troy, apologize to your Mother right now." Jack barked.

"What'd I do?" Troy asked, a look of confusion on his face, and an identical one on Rebecca's.

"You do not refer to her, or any of our friends as "oldies" so apologize or you can spend the night upstairs."

"Sorry Mom." Troy said, still not understanding his Dad's outrage, but not wanting to be punished for the night.

"Apology accepted, sweetie. Why don't you go upstairs and shower before everyone gets here." Rebecca suggested, making an excuse for her son to get out of the way of Jack. Troy nodded slowly and fled the room as Rebecca started in on Jack. As Troy slowly walked up the stairs he could hear his Mom speaking.

"You have no right to take your anger out on your son. Just because you might be losing your job does not mean you can make him feel unsafe in his own home. You scared him just now Jack." Troy blocked out the rest of the conversation as he reached the top of the stairs, his Mom mentioning his Dad's job not even registering as he turned his thoughts to Gabriella in the hopes of getting the image of his angry Dad out of his head.

**A/N: Okay so I changed the name of this to "By The Way" because I'm going to make the chapter titles songs by Red Hot Chili Peppers so it seems fitting to have the title as one of their albums. Don't forget to review so I know people are reading this and I have a reason to continue! Next chapter: How does the dinner go? Chad and Taylor grill Troy about Gabriella and he confesses their little detention make out!**


	3. A Certain Someone

**A/N: Here you go guys, the next chapter as promised! I hope you enjoy!**

"Troy can you get the door please?" Rebecca Bolton asked Troy as she started to put the last of the icing on her famous chocolate cake and the door bell went off.

"Sure Mom." Troy answered, getting off the stool. "The cake looks great." He called back as he left the room. Rebecca smiled to herself as she continued icing the cake, hearing Chad's booming voice, followed by a similar sounding man's voice and two softer voices which she took to belonging to Eliza Danforth and Taylor. The voices got louder as the three Danforths, Taylor and Troy appeared in the kitchen, a round of greetings starting.

"Where's Jack?" Tim Danforth asked Rebecca.

"He's in the backyard starting up the barbeque, Tim." Rebecca replied, finishing the icing and putting the bowl back down.

"It looks delicious, Aunty Becks." Chad complimented, licking his lips at the sight of his favourite cake.

"I made lasagna as well, Chad." Rebecca smirked, knowing it was Chad's favourite.

"Oh man, why'd I eat lunch?" Chad muttered under his breath, causing everyone to laugh. The doorbell sounded again.

"I'll go get it, it'll just be Maria." Rebecca said, referring to Gabriella's Mom.

"I'll come too, Rebecca." Eliza said, following her friend out of the kitchen, leaving the three teens alone with a bowl half full of chocolate icing. Troy and Chad pounced on it, dipping their fingers into the sticky, sweet goo and quickly licking it off. Taylor watched with an amused look on her face, for as long as she had known the two their one weakness was anything chocolate. She swore they were worse than two girls.

"Gunna share?" Taylor teased, stepping closer to Chad and slipping an arm around her waist.

"Aw, sorry babe." Chad said realizing they hadn't shared with her yet. He dipped his finger quickly into the bowl then raised his chocolate covered finger to her mouth, letting her put her warm mouth around it and suck it off.

"Mmmm." Taylor moaned, teasing Chad. "Tastes good, baby." She said with a smirk and Chad felt his groin tighten.

"Hey, hey. No sexual gestures in my kitchen please. I have to eat my breakfast in this room you know!" Troy exclaimed, causing his friends to stop their actions and laugh at him, all three continuing to eat the leftover icing until they were starting to feel queasy.

They left the kitchen and headed into the backyard, settling down at the picnic table as they realized that dinner was almost ready. Once the meat was cooked the Moms brought out the lasagna and the salads and everyone dug in, chatting amongst themselves. Rebecca, Eliza and Maria were talking about a new department shop that had just opened at the mall, Tim and Jack were discussing the Lakers/Suns game that was to be played the next day and Taylor and Chad were discussing something that happened during one of their classes. Troy sat in silence, his thoughts not on his friends and family around him, not the delicious meal he was mindlessly eating, but on a certain best friend of his that he was certain he was falling for. And hard.

"Why don't you kids go down to the basement and watch a movie or something?" Rebecca said to Troy, Chad and Taylor as they sat with their parents and Gabriella's Mom in the lounge after they had finished dinner. The three teens practically jumped to their feet as they received the permission they longed for to leave the room. Troy wanted to get away from his Dad and Taylor and Chad wanted to get Troy alone so they could ask him about Gabriella. Taylor and Chad followed Troy down the stairs to the basement, immediately settling themselves down on the couch, Taylor's back against Chad's front as they laid down the length of the couch.

"Spill, Bolton." Taylor demanded as Troy settled himself down in the lone armchair.\  
"Spill what, McKessie?" Troy asked, feigning innocence.

"What's happening with you and Gabi, dumbass." Chad said with a roll of his eyes. Troy shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing. She's on a date with Brian, isn't she?" Troy shot back, trying to act jealous.

"Forget it Troy, Gab told me that she'd breaking up with Brian tonight. She said they'd grown apart and she wants to play the field. From the freaking sex eyes you guys were giving each other last period today I know she means she's leaving Brian for you."

"Uh, shit." Troy muttered, knowing he was now busted.

"And Gabi won't tell me why she's leaving him so you are." Taylor demanded, Chad nodding his head behind her.

"Well, Brie was gunna break up with Brian before we kissed today. So you guys can't blame me for it." Troy protested, not realizing he'd just admitted to kissing Gabriella that day.

"You kissed her?!" Taylor asked, trying to hold in her excitement as she realized that Troy didn't know quite what he'd just admitted.

"Well we kissed each other, Ms Davis went to get something from another teacher and we were playing around one minute and kissing the.. oh shit." Troy trailed off, realizing finally what he'd said.

"Way to go Troy Boy!" Chad announced, earning a sharp slap from Taylor.

"So you and Gabi kiss, and then she decides to break up with Brian?" Taylor asked.

"No, she was going to break up with him anyway, I think. She said she'd been trying to. Troy thought back to their conversation in the car and the way Gabriella had looked when she brought up the topic of breaking up with Brian.

_Flashback._

"_Do you love him, Brie?" Troy asked seriously. When Gabriella didn't answer Troy looked over at her, noticing she was shaking her head rapidly, tears welling up in her eyes, allowing Troy to see the pain his best friend was currently in.  
"No, I don't love him, Troy. I've tried to break up with him, but he doesn't handle it well. He says he can't live without me, and that if I wasn't in his life he might as well be dead." Gabriella said, her voice barely above a whisper as the tears started to fall freely down her face, and splat onto her jeans making little dark dots against the light denim. Troy pulled the car to the curb outside Gabriella's house and turned off the engine, his heart breaking as he saw how much the topic was hurting Gabriella..  
"Brie, come here." Troy whispered softly, reaching out and pulling her across the seat until Gabriella was in his arms, sobbing. "He has no right to make you feel like you have to go out with him." He cooed, hating Brian even more for making Gabriella feel this bad.  
"Tonight Troy. When I go out with him tonight I'm going to end it, okay?" She asked through her tears which Troy promptly wiped away with the pad of his thumb._

"She said that every time she'd tried to break up with him he'd say how his life wasn't worth living without her. I just hope he doesn't do something stupid tonight." Troy said slowly, looking up at Taylor who looked frightened at the news.  
"You don't think he'd hurt her, do you guys?" She asked, her face getting pale.  
"Of course not, Tay." Chad reassured her, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend's body as he hugged her tight. "Troy, why don't you ring Gab and see when she's coming over? We gotta wait for her to get here before we can have dessert." Troy and Taylor rolled their eyes at Chad's reference to food, knowing he'd happily eat all day, but both knowing he only mentioned food at this moment to try and make the situation less tense.  
Troy pulled out his cell phone and scrolled down to Gabriella's number. He hit the call button and waited patiently for her to answer. After four rings she answered.  
"Hello?" She asked, not having bothered to look at the screen and see who the caller was.  
"Hey Bee. We were just wondering when you were getting here. Mom's making us wait til you get here before we have dessert and Chad's longing for some chocolate cake." Troy laughed.  
"Brian's just about to bring me over now, Troy. He's just gone to get his shoes on."  
"How'd he take the news?" Troy asked, his heart in his throat.  
"Better than I expected, he actually seemed to accept it. He's ready to leave now so I'll see you in about ten minutes?" Gabriella asked, eager to get to Troy's house and be in his arms.  
"See ya then, Bee." Troy replied, ending the call and turning to his anxious friends. "She said he seemed to accept she was breaking up with him and he's bringing her here now. She said ten minutes."  
The look of worry that had been on all their faces disappeared and Chad started to moan about having to wait ten whole minutes before he could be tasting that chocolate cake, Taylor sympathized with him, starting a make out session so he had something "sweet" to taste while he was waiting. Troy laughed at his friends and closed his eyes, settling back in his chair while he thought about Gabriella and what could possibly happen with them in the next few days. He stayed peacefully in his thoughts until a pillow hit him in the face, causing him to jolt back to reality, seeing an amused looking Chad and Taylor standing in front of him.  
"Stop those dirty thoughts about Gabi and come upstairs. She'll be here any minute and I'm dead starving!" Chad announced, his smile spreading as Troy got up and followed them out of the basement, the smells of hot apple pie meeting the teenagers as they reached the top of the stairs. A doorbell sounded and Troy ran to answer it, wondering why Gabriella had rung the doorbell, she usually just entered as if it was her own house. Troy opened the door, expecting his chocolate eyed best friend to be standing there waiting for him. But all he saw was Gabriella's body crumpled in a heap on the doorstep as a red car he knew was Brian's sped off down the street. Troy couldn't speak as he bent down to Gabriella, flipping her gently over and seeing the bruising already appearing on her visible skin, and the deep gashes over her face and neck. Chad and Taylor came out to greet their friend and when their eyes fell upon the unconscious Gabriella their reactions of a scream and a loud curse word alerted the adults who to witnessed the grisly scene before an ambulance was called.

**A/N: Okay, I know it was short, but I wanted a cliffhanger! Next chapter you can find out how Gabriella's night went to have her end up unconscious on Troy's doorstep. Will she be alright? Don't forget to review so you can find out faster!!**


	4. Breaking The Girl

Brian had been late picking Gabriella up but it was perfect since she was late getting ready

**A/N: Here's the new chapter guys. WARNING: This chapter contains a brief bit of violence and rape, but I will put another warning up when it gets to that bit, and another message when it's finished, incase you don't want to read it then you can just skip over it.**

Brian had been late picking Gabriella up but it was perfect since she was late getting ready. She was wearing a pair of simple blue jeans with a white belt, a pink t-shirt and a pair of white ballet flats, and she tied her long curls up in a ponytail. This was Gabriella's attempt to look as boring and unattractive as she could, to try and make the break up easier on Brian. But Gabriella still looked stunning, the tight t-shirt and jeans showing off her every curves as she looked at herself in the mirror, deciding she needed to change. But she heard a car pulling up outside and as she looked down to the street from her bedroom she saw the familiar red car that Brian drove and she knew she didn't have time to change because her boyfriend hated to wait for her to finish getting ready when he came to pick her up. Gabriella grabbed the white jersey off her bed and her white clutch which contained her cell phone, lip gloss and purse before she headed downstairs to answer the doorbell, revealing a rather pissed off looking Brian.

"Hey honey." She cooed, reaching up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, but Brian grabbed her arm and kissed her hard. Gabriella let herself be kissed, comparing it to her kisses with Troy earlier that day. Troy's tongue had danced with her own, exploring her mouth as if he couldn't get enough of her, whereas Brian's tongue fought her own, not taking the care and time Troy's had done.

"Ready to go?" Brian asked as they broke away, a grin now across his face. "We can get pizza on the way back to mine if you'd like?" Gabriella had to stop herself from screwing up her nose. She really didn't feel like greasy pizza, but she knew better than to go back on what Brian had planned.

"Sounds good. I have to go to Troy's house tonight. It's his Dad's birthday and I promised my Mom I'd be there by 8." Gabriella said softly as she followed Brian out to his car and let herself in the passengers side as Brian instantly went to his own side of the car and got in.

"_So much unlike Troy." _Gabriella thought to herself as Brian simply drove, without even looking or talking to her until they got to the pizza place.

"I've already ordered it so I'll just go inside and pick it up." He said quickly, getting out the car and heading inside. Gabriella pulled out her cell phone and quickly typed a message to Troy.

_I can't believe I miss you already. What are you doing to my mind, Bolton?_

Gabriella smiled at the message as she sent it, quickly putting her phone away as Brian walked back to the car, pizza in hand which he set down on Gabriella's knee before he drove the short distance to his house.

"You're quiet tonight, Gabi." He said as they walked up to his front door.

"Just a lot on my mind, that's all." Gabriella replied.

"I hope there's nothing bad." He teased and Gabriella smiled weakly at him.

"Of course not, just school and stuff. Let's eat." She tried to make her voice sound as normal as possible when inside she just wanted to scream with frustration of being with Brian instead of Troy. The pair sat down on the couch, the pizza box between them as they ate in silence, Brian trying to work out what was wrong with his girlfriend, and Gabriella trying to work out the best way to end things with Brian. After the pizza was finished they'd spoken no more than 10 words to each other and things were feeling quite awkward as they watched TV together in silence. An hour later and they were still not talking very much, sitting at opposite ends of the couch watching a football game that Gabriella had no interest in.

"Brian, I have to talk to you about something." Gabriella said softly, noting that it was 7.30 and she needed to break up with Brian now before she ran out of time.

"What's the matter?" Brian asked, sliding down the couch to sit closer to her.

"Brian, things aren't working out. I know I said I'd give them another chance last week, but I really can't do it anymore." Gabriella felt tears well up as she prepared herself for another emotional blackmail from Brian, but he didn't start anything.

"If that's what's best for you, Gabi." He said in a surprisingly gently voice. Gabriella nodded softly.

"It is, Brian." She confirmed. As the pair sat and watched each other Gabriella's phone started to ring. She reached over for it and Brian stood up as she picked it up.

"I'll just go get on some shoes and then I'll take you home, Gabriella." He said. Gabriella nodded to him as she continued talking, a sparkle reappearing in his eyes. As he left the room he heard Gabriella say Troy's name, and he instantly knew that Troy Bolton had something to do with Gabriella breaking up with him, and he was going to make sure that East High's Golden Boy didn't get what he wanted.

**Warning: Violence/rape..**

Gabriella started to ease up after she'd spoken to Troy on the phone. When Brian came back she had her back to him and he grabbed her roughly around the waist, clasping one hand tight over her mouth so she couldn't scream out. He quickly pushed her to the ground, causing her to knock her head on the side of his coffee table. Gabriella instantly felt herself get dizzy and she struggled to stay awake as she knew if she passed out Brian wouldn't hold anything back and she'd have to chance at survival. She could feel his hands undoing her jeans and roughly pulling them down to her knees, too impatient to take them right off. Her underwear soon followed and then he plunged himself into her, causing Gabriella to gasp out in pain as he forced his way into her. Her vision started to fade as he drove himself back into her body, the pain of his actions and the knock to her head causing her to quickly pass out, leaving Brian free to do what he wanted to do with her. Once he realized she was unconscious Brian pulled himself out of her and pulled her underwear and jeans back up. It was no fun if she didn't know he was finally getting what he wanted from her after six months of pretending to be the sweet boyfriend so he could finally screw with her. Brian got up off the floor and picked up Gabriella's body, placing it on the couch as he reached into his pocket and produced a small pocketknife. He flipped out the blade and started to slash at Gabriella's face and neck.

"This will make sure fucking Bolton doesn't want you anymore." He muttered angrily as he brought his fist down hard to her chest and stomach, punching her unconscious body over and over again, letting all his anger out. Gabriella started to regain consciousness and Brian grabbed her arm, bending it backwards as Gabriella opened her eyes. The excruciating pain went through Gabriella's body which was already on fire from the pain and she felt herself slip back into the darkness as a loud cracking noise filled the room. Brian continued his assault on Gabriella's body, driving the knife in hard to her stomach before he picked her up and carried her out to his car, placing her on the backseat before he got into the drivers seat and drove off to take her to Troy's house as he had promised.

**A/N: And back to normal now..**

"Gabriella? Can you hear me?" Troy asked softly as he knelt next to Gabriella on the porch. Gabriella stirred, moaning in pain as her eyelids fluttered and his fingers clenched.

"Baby? Wake up, it's Mom." Maria cried softly, running her fingers down Gabriella's right cheek which only had one small cut on it.

Troy ran his fingers through Gabriella's messed up hair, willing her to wake up.

"Come on Bee. Open your eyes." Troy whispered as he saw her struggling to open her eyelids. She finally got them open, but they were unfocused.

"The ambulance is on it's way." Rebecca announced, and Troy looked up at her, worry filled in their identical bright blue eyes. They heard the sirens getting closer and Jack helped Troy and Maria up so they weren't in the way of the paramedics.

"Troy, why don't you go inside and see if Taylor's alright, she's in the bathroom with Chad." Troy nodded silently, heading for the bathroom when he heard Maria's voice calling out to him.

"Troy, can you come to the hospital with me?" She asked, knowing Gabriella would want her best friend when she woke up.

"Sure Maria." Troy said, smiling briefly at the older woman before he went to find Chad and Taylor. They were in the downstairs bathroom, Chad was sitting on the floor, his back against the vanity and Taylor was in his lap, her body heaving with the sobs that racked her body.

"I'm going with Maria in the ambulance." He said weakly as he neared them. He and Chad looked at each other, their eyes both filled with tears. Chad stood up, helping Taylor up and he pulled Troy into a one armed hug, the other staying firmly around his girlfriend's waist.

"Ring us if there's any news. Okay?" Chad asked as they stepped apart. Troy nodded.

"Come here, Tay." Troy said gently, allowing Taylor to throw herself into his arms as she continued to cry. "Gabs will be okay, Tay. We know she's strong." Troy reassured her, rubbing her back gently.

"She is strong, right?" Taylor said through her tears, pulling her head back from Troy's chest and Troy lent down and kissed her cheek gently.

"I promise I'll ring with the first bit of news." Troy said as they left the bathroom and Taylor returned to Chad's arms. The three walked to the front door and saw Gabriella being loaded into the ambulance, Taylor started sobbing again and Chad pulled her back to his body, nodding at Troy as he kissed his Mom before following Maria out to the ambulance. Troy sat in the back of the ambulance with Maria and a paramedic, and Gabriella of course. Gabriella had woken up, but was still groggy and the paramedic said it seemed she had a very had concussion from a possible knock to the head. Troy sat in silence, watching as the paramedic checked over Gabriella's body, his heart dropped as he heard her gasp out in pain as the paramedic ran her hands over Gabriella's body, discovering the stab wound that Brian had made and had tried to patch up for some reason. Once the paramedic had cleaned the wound and applied a fresh bandage to it she reached across Gabriella to grab something and knocked Gabriella's right arm causing Gabriella to yelp out in pain. The noise shocked Troy who immediately returned his eyes to his best friend.

"Gabriella, does your arm hurt when I do this?" The paramedic gently picked up Gabriella's arm and it was obvious that the bone wasn't where it was meant to be. Gabriella had tears rolling down her face as her arm throbbed and she couldn't hold in her scream of pain as the paramedic laid her arm back on the stretcher, accidentally causing more pain to her.

"We're at the hospital now, baby." Maria cooed from next to Gabriella's head and she tried to turn her head towards her Mom's voice, but found it too painful to do so which caused Maria and Troy to have tears once again well up in their eyes.

Three hours later Gabriella was sleeping peacefully and Maria was drifting to sleep on the hard plastic chair in her room. Troy had left to let his parents, Taylor and Chad know that Gabriella was going to be alright. She had a broken arm, a concussion, a nasty stab wound and many cuts and bruises, but she was going to be alright. She would have to stay in hospital overnight, but she would be allowed home the next morning. Troy made the phone call and then returned to Gabriella's room.

"Troy, can you stay with Gabbi for a few minutes? I'm meant to be leaving on a business trip tomorrow and I need to ring my boss and see if I can get out of it." Maria said, getting up from her seat as Troy entered the room.

"Sure Maria." Troy said, taking the seat he occupied earlier as Maria left the room. He watched Gabriella, smiling softly as he noticed how innocent she looked, besides the scratches that covered one side of her face. Troy got up from his seat and made his way over to the bed, sitting gently on the edge.

"I'm so sorry I didn't protect you tonight, Brie. I told your Dad I'd protect you, but I didn't. I'm so fucking sorry." Troy said, letting himself finally cry. A few minutes later he wiped his eyes on the sleeves of his East High jersey, knowing Maria would be back in a few minutes. He turned around as Maria entered the room.

"I called my work, but there's no way I can get out of it. Your Mom said Gabbi can stay with you guys while I'm gone. So welcome to your new housemate, Gabriella Montez, your new sister for two weeks." Maria said with a soft laugh. "Your Dad's coming to pick us up now, I need to leave at 5am to catch my flight."

"Maria, is it okay if I stay with Brie tonight? I don't want her to wake up alone." Troy said bashfully.

"That's fine with me, Troy. I'll go and get one of the nurses to bring you a cot to sleep on, okay?" Troy nodded in response and Maria left the room once more, returning a few minutes later to say goodbye.

"Bye Troy, I'll ring Gabbi tomorrow night and see how she's doing." Maria said, giving him a hug before turning her attention to her sleeping daughter, kissing her forehead as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Good night, Maria." Troy said as Maria left to go home.

"Night Troy. Thank you so much. Tom would've been proud of you." She said, referring to Gabriella's Dad, Tom.

When Maria had left a nurse brought in a cot for Tory to sleep on and Troy turned out the lights before slipping under the stuff white sheets, turning so he was facing Gabriella.

"G'night, Bee." He whispered as the days events took over his body and he slipped into sleep.

Less than half an hour later he was woken by the sound of Gabriella's voice.

"Mom? Troy?" It called out. Troy sat up quickly at the sound of his best friend becoming frantic.

"Bee? I'm here. It's me, Troy." He said softly as he got up and walked the few steps to Gabriella's bed. He sat down on the edge once more.

"Oh Troy, I woke up and I couldn't see anymore." Gabriella cried.

"Hey, hey. I'm here, no need for those tears, silly." Troy joked, trying to calm her down. He reached over and gently wiped the tears away, glad when Gabriella didn't flinch from his touch.

"It hurts, Troy. It all hurts." She sobbed and Troy felt his heart split in two at the sound of her pain-filled voice.

"I'll go get a nurse, Bee. They can give you something for the pain, okay?" Gabriella nodded slowly, tears once again staining her cheeks. Troy got up and hurried out the room, locating a nurse and explaining to her the problem. When he returned to the room Gabriella was hysterical and the nurse quickly administrated the pain relief and left Troy to comfort her. Troy sat back on the bed, reaching out for Gabriella's hand as he hushed her.

"Shh, baby. Don't cry." He whispered over and over again, pulling Gabriella gently into his arms, careful not to hurt her even more than she already was. "Come on, Bee. You've got me."

"Where's my Mom?" Gabriella asked when the medication had started to work and she was calmed down.

"She has to go on a business trip tomorrow morning. You're gunna be living with me for two weeks, you lucky little thing." Troy explained, trying to keep the mood light. Gabriella nodded at his explanation.

"When can I go home?" She asked.

"In the morning. I'm going to stay here tonight, if that's okay with you? I have a cot over on the other side of the room."

"Troy?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, Brie?"

"Can you sleep right here, instead?" She asked softly.

"Anything you want, anything at all." Troy agreed. "Let's get some sleep, eh? Lie down and get comfy, Brie." Gabriella lay down in Troy's arms in a way that wasn't hurting her arm that was in plaster or the stab wound in her stomach. "Night Bee."

"Night Troy." Gabriella said softly. A few moments later she spoke again. "Troy, should I feel okay with you being this close to me? After Brian, you know."

"Whatever you feel comfortable with is normal for you, Brie. Let me know if you want me to move away, okay?" Troy consoled.

"He raped me, Troy. I was raped." Gabriella started to sob again. Troy pulled her close to his own body, wanting nothing more than to take the whole night back again and save his best friend from this pain.

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this as much as one can enjoy such a somber chapter. Don't forget to hit the review button! Next chapter: How will this all affect Gabriella? Will Troy be able to save his best friend from herself?**


	5. Desecration Smile

It was the day after the attack and Jack and Rebecca had come to the hospital to pick up Gabriella and Troy from the hospital

**A/N: I know this is a really short chapter, but it needs to be put out and it doesn't seem right mixing the next chapter with this bit. So here's the small filler, Desecration Smile. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Oh, and if people were wondering Troy calls Gabriella Bee, because have you ever heard a little kid say Brie? It comes out as Bee. So it's a nickname from when they were really little, and only one he uses.**

It was the day after the attack and Jack and Rebecca had come to the hospital to pick up Gabriella and Troy from the hospital since Gabriella only needed to stay in for the night for observations.

The night before, Gabriella had given a statement to the police and they had soon caught Brian and he was placed in police custody and was due in court that morning.

Troy was standing outside the hospital, his hand resting on the wheelchair which held Gabriella who was too weak to walk very far distances. The pair were waiting for Jack and Rebecca to bring the car around to the entrance so they could get Gabriella into the car a lot more easily.

"You feeling okay, Bee?" Troy asked sincerely, seeing Gabriella wince as she moved her arm.

"I'm going to need a lot of Tylenol when we get back to your house." She admitted.

"You mean when we get home. You're staying with us, therefore it's your home too. You've practically lived there all our lives!" Troy exclaimed, putting a smile on Gabriella's face.

"Okay, okay. When we get home. And I need to go to bed."

"I thought you slept well last night? I didn't hear you wake up." Troy asked.

"You slept like a baby, Bolton. I on the other hand was awake most of the night."

"Brie, you should've woken me!" Troy scolded.

"You're a grouch when you haven't slept Troy Bolton. I wasn't putting myself through that."

Just as Troy was about to respond the Bolton's car pulled up in front of the two teens and Troy pushed Gabriella's wheelchair closer to the car before he helped her into the back seat.

"Troy, can you return the wheelchair to reception?" Jack asked his son once Gabriella was settled into the car, as comfortable as someone in her position could be.

"Sure Dad. I'll just be a minute." Troy said, quickly pushing the wheelchair back inside the hospital, leaving Gabriella feeling unusually uncomfortable around the two people who were like parents to her.

"_I wonder what they're thinking about last night." _Gabriella thought._ "Do they think I was leading Brian on? Do they think this is my fault?"_

Gabriella was truly freaking out by the time Troy got back to the car a few short minutes later and slid into the seat next to Gabriella, noticing she was a lot more pale than she had been.

"Brie, are you okay?" He asked and Gabriella nodded her head slowly.

"_Don't be silly, Gabriella. Jack and Rebecca know that you're not to blame."_ Gabriella fought with herself in her head. _"If you weren't leaving him for your best friend then it wouldn't of happened."_ A voice said in her head. And suddenly Gabriella thought back to the previous day, not even twenty four hours ago in detention where she and Troy had kissed. How right it had felt. Gabriella looked over at her best friend, he was watching her, his bright blue eyes filled with concern as he watched her wrinkle her brow as she fought with her own thoughts.

"You okay?" Troy mouthed and Gabriella nodded, turning so she was looking out the window, unable to keep her eyes matched with his for any longer, knowing that she couldn't lie to him and that he knew she wasn't alright.

The trip back to the Bolton house passed quickly and Troy hurried around to Gabriella's side of the car, helping her slide out of the car and into a standing position.

"Can you get inside?" Troy asked her and Gabriella snapped her head up meet with his.

"I'm not a fucking invalid, Troy." She hissed, stepping away from his hold and heading towards the front door, tears blurring her vision. She'd only walked a few meters before her legs collapsed under her and she slumped to the ground, hot tears cascading down her cheeks as Troy came to her side.

Troy didn't care if Gabriella yelled at him, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her inside, letting the tears soak his shirt as Gabriella continued to cry. Troy carried her past his parents and up the stairs to the guest bedroom next to his own bedroom where Gabriella would be sleeping. Troy placed her gently on the bed, noticing her body was no longer shaking with sobs, and the tears were now just rolling silently down Gabriella's cheeks.

"Brie?" Troy asked gently and Gabriella moved her head so she was looking up at Troy, and he noticed for the first time how much hurt were in her dark eyes.

"I didn't mean to yell at you, Troy." She said, her voice not much above a whisper.

"It's okay, Brie." Troy smiled. "Do you want some Tylenol?"

"Please."

"I'll bring you something more comfy to change into? And we'll go get your clothes later when you've had a sleep." Troy suggested and Gabriella nodded her head. Troy turned and started to walk out of the bedroom but Gabriella called out to him.

"Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For everything." She said shyly.

"No worries, Bee." Troy said with a smile before he turned to exit the room.

When he was gone Gabriella curled up on the bed, suddenly feeling very tired and she felt her eyes start to grow heavy as she fought to keep them open.

Troy returned a few minutes later with some Tylenol, a glass of water, a pair of his boxers and one of his wildcats t-shirts.

"Hey, Bee. Mum asks if you're…." Troy trailed off as he noticed Gabriella was fast asleep. He placed the glass of water and the Tylenol on the bedside table and the clothes on the floor next to the bed before he gently shook Gabriella awake.

"Mmm?" She asked sleepily as the view came into focus and she saw Troy kneeling in front of her. She instinctively leant forward, catching his lips with her own. Troy took a second to realise what was happening, his lips quickly moving against Gabriella's once he clicked. Gabriella's hand that wasn't in a cast was on his shoulder, pulling him up onto the bed and Troy fell roughly against his body, quickly raising himself up on his arms to prevent him from hurting her injured body. Gabriella ran her tongue along Troy's bottom lip and he granted her tongue access to his mouth, feeling the sensation of her tongue dancing with his own, causing moans to escape from both of their mouths.

"Troy." Gabriella moaned as Troy left her lips, kissing down the side of her face to her neck where he planted hot, open mouthed kisses over her skin.

Gabriella cried out as his mouth connected with a bruise and she pushed Troy off her body, sending him crashing to the floor next to the bed. Tears quickly escaped from Gabriella's eyes as she curled up into the fetal position, hugging her knees to her chest as she rocked gently.

It took Troy a minute to realise what had happened and when he did he sprung to his feet.

"Fuck Brie. I'm so sorry. Fuck, fuck, fuck." He stuttered as he sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Gabriella calm down. He wanted to reach out and hold her, but he didn't want to scare her anymore than he already had. After a few more minutes Gabriella had stopped crying and was catching her breath as she straightened out her body.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap." She finally whispered, drawing her eyes up to look at Troy's blue, tear filled ones.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't of gotten carried away, not after…" Troy trailed off, his eyes casting downwards, breaking their gaze.

"Troy, I don't want that to rule my life. I got away from him so I could be happy. So I could be with you." Gabriella insisted, using her thumb to lift Troy's gaze back up to hers.

"I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable though, Brie."

"You already know this, but last night, Troy. Brian took it too far. He wouldn't take no for an answer…"

"I'm going to kill the bastard." Troy muttered.

"Don't interrupt, Troy Bolton." Gabriella scolded. "He wouldn't take no for an answer, but I know I can trust you. You're my best friend, and I know if wanted things to stop, you'd stop before the words were out of my mouth. You just have to give me some time to get my head around it, okay?"

"Okay." Troy agreed, nodding his head.

"Now that's settled, did you bring me clothes? I really need to get out of these jeans." Gabriella asked and Troy leant down and picked up his clothes he'd brought in for Gabriella to borrow. Gabriella reached out and took the clothes from Troy before she got up off the bed and headed into the bathroom, leaving Troy to mull over his thoughts. He knew he wanted to be with Gabriella, but he decided they really needed to get some control and take things as slowly as possible to give her body and mind some time to heal. Gabriella returned to the room and as she took the Tylenol and finished off the glass of water Troy watched her graceful movements, even with one arm restricted to a cast.

"Hop into bed, you." Troy teased as he pulled the covers back from the bed and gestured for Gabriella to climb in, which she did so.

"Thanks Troy. For everything." She smiled as she combated a yawn, feeling the wave of tiredness flow over her body.

"You're welcome Bee. Sweet dreams." Troy smiled as he left the room. Shutting the dor quietly behind him he wondered if things would stay this easy.

Was this all just a calm before the storm?

**A/N: Okay, so there's the little filler. The next chapter will take place 3 months into the future. Will Gabriella still be handling the ordeal? And what has become of her and Troy? I promise I'll try my hardest to update, but my life is hectic right now!**


	6. My Friends

**A/N: I changed my mind and this is the next chapter, not 3 months in advance, but a month, when Gabriella's Mom is home. The chapter after this is completely written, because I'm just that awesome, and it's quite long so you can expect that in a few days! **

**This chapter is dedicated to Natasha, my friend and neighbour who took her own life last Wednesday... R.I.P Nats, we're missing you already. I love ya like milk loves cookies.  
**

Gabriella got out of Troy's car and shut the door, leaving Chad and Troy amazed at not only how she could not speak a single word to anyone, but how quiet her actions now seemed. Even shutting a car door happened with an almost eerie silence when Gabriella did it, compared to the loud slams that came from Troy and Chad's doors.

Troy and Chad walked on either side of Gabriella as they entered the busy hallways of their school, heading in the direction of their lockers.

When they reached Chad and Troy's lockers, halfway down the corridor the boys stopped and Gabriella wordlessly carried on. Even though Gabriella hadn't spoken a word for the past month Chad and Troy, as much as everyone else who knew her, wished she would start speaking again.

"Chad, does it seem like Brie _can't_ speak rather than _won't_ speak?" Troy asked as he watched Gabriella walk away.

"I was wondering that…" Chad answered. "When you went back inside to tell your Mom something and I said I was having trouble with that English assignment, she looked like she wanted to talk, but nothing came out. Her mouth even opened and everything, dude."

"I might ask Maria tonight if the counselor has said anything about it." Troy said as he closed his locker and slung his bag back over his shoulder, watching as Gabriella approached them again.

"Hey Bee-ball." He greeted and Gabriella let a small smile creep onto her lips.

"You guys ready to go face the wrath that is Ms. Darbus?" Chad asked, slinging his arm around Gabriella's shoulders.

Gabriella looked around as if she as confused, and it took Troy and Chad a few seconds to realise she was looking for Taylor who would usually meet them at the boys' lockers.

"Taylor's got some kind of stomach bug. She's at home today." Chad said with a small pout and Gabriella giggled soundlessly, wrapping her arm around Chad's waist as they walked off to their homeroom.

Chad and Troy shot each other identical looks over Gabriella's head. They'd both noticed how Gabriella had managed to laugh silently, and both had the same thought going through their heads.

"_Does this mean that Gabriella really couldn't talk?"_

MYFRIENDS.MYFRIENDS.MYFRIENDS.MYFRIENDS.MYFRIENDS.

"Maria?" Troy asked as he walked into the kitchen, seeing Gabriella's Mom standing at the counter, preparing dinner.

Troy had told Gabriella he would get them some soda to drink while they finished their homework, so that he would have a chance to talk to Maria about what he and Chad had realized.

"Hey Troy. How's homework going?" Maria asked, turning to look at Troy, seeing the worried expression on the teenager's face she changed her question. "What's wrong?"

"Maria, have you ever thought that maybe Brie isn't able to talk anymore, instead of that she just won't speak to anyone?"

"I've been thinking that, Troy. She doesn't even react around music anymore. No singing, no humming, not even tapping along to the tune like she used to." Maria confessed. "She has a counselor's appointment tomorrow and I'm going to bring it up with her then."

"Today me and Chad noticed that she was giggling again, but it was silent. And she always looks like she wants to say something, either asking a question or joining in the conversation at the lunch table."

"I think we're onto something here, Troy." Maria confirmed with a small smile. "I'll ring her counselor tomorrow morning so she can have some time to think about it before Gabi's appointment. Speaking of Gabi, you better get back up to her before she thinks you've gone home!"

"I'll just grab the soda I promised her. She'd probably attack me if she didn't get her sugar fix." Troy laughed as he opened the fridge and got out two cans of coke.

"You're a wise boy, Troy." Maria laughed as she continued to prepare dinner.

Troy laughed as he headed back up the stairs to Gabriella's bedroom where they were working together on their history assignment.

"Your soda, my lady." Troy said as he entered Gabriella's bedroom and walked over to where Gabriella was sitting on her bed. As Gabriella made a reach for the can in his closest hand Troy pulled his arm out of her reach.

Gabriella looked up at him, a small pout playing on her lips as she waited for him to hand her the can, not jumping at his bait to give him the pleasure of winning.

"Oh, do you want this can, Brie?" He asked with a smirk and Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "I think you really want this can of soda."

Gabriella leant back against the pillows of her bed, flipping her hair away from her face as she moved her eyes away from Troy.

Once Troy realized she wasn't going to try and get the can off him he gave up and sat down on the bed, tossing the can into Gabriella's lap as he did so.

Gabriella smirked and opened the can, taking a sip before turning her attention back to the history books in front of her.

"So what do you think we should write first?" Troy asked Gabriella and she looked up at him for a minute, working out the best way for her to tell him what she wanted to do.

Suddenly Gabriella grabbed a notebook from her bedside table and started writing furiously in it. When she was finished she handed it to Troy and he read through what Gabriella had written about the introduction to their essay.

"Nice thinking, Brie." He said with a smile. "You've got the tidy writing, so you can write it down and I'll read the notes for the next bit."

Gabriella started writing their essay and Troy flipped through the notes they had made in class earlier that day, noticing just how silent the room was.

Usually while they studied they had music on, and Gabriella would sing or hum along, tapping her foot in time to the music. But as Maria had mentioned to Troy earlier Gabriella didn't do any of those things anymore.

The only sound came from the occasional page turning and pen scratching on paper. After the pair had worked for an hour Troy looked at his watch and realized it was 5.57, and he was meant to be home for dinner at six.

"Brie, I gotta go eat dinner. I'll see you in the morning?" Troy said as he picked up his books and stood next to Gabriella's bed.

Gabriella nodded her head, waving slightly at Troy as her expression changed from relaxed to scared.

"Brie, can I ask you something?" Troy asked nervously as he placed his books on the floor and sat back on the bed.

Gabriella nodded once again.

"Do you want to talk?" He asked softly.

Tears immediately clouded over Gabriella's eyes as she nodded slowly.

"So you're not forcing yourself to be silent?" He asked, sliding a hand across to grip one of Gabriella's.

Gabriella shook her head furiously as the tears began to fall.

Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and pulled her to him, feeling as her tiny body shook with sobs. Tears were falling from his own eyes as Troy rocked Gabriella until she stopped crying.

"I gotta go home, Bee. My Dad's gunna kill me." Troy whispered, releasing Gabriella from his grips as he realized it was almost 6.30pm.

Gabriella sat stiffly on her bed as she watched Troy quickly leave the room. Once he was gone she curled up into a ball in the centre of her bed and cried, heavy, soundless sobs racked her body as she slowly cried herself to sleep.

Meanwhile Troy had fled the Montez house without saying goodbye to Maria, and raced next door to his own house. He opened the front door and hurried inside.

'"Troy. You're late." His father's voice came from the dining room. "Where have you been?"

Troy shuddered as he heard the anger laced in his father's voice and he bolted up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door behind him. Troy flung himself face down onto his bed, quickly soaking his pillow with his tears as he thought of what his best friend had become.

"_Even her crying was silent."_ Troy thought to himself as he realized not one sound had left Gabriella's lips the entire afternoon he spent in her presence.

Troy similarly fell asleep a short while later, and his Mom found him curled up, his face blotchy from crying.

"Troy." Rebecca whispered as she shook her son gently.

Troy's eyes fluttered open and new tears formed as he took in her concerned look. "What's the matter, honey?"

"Gabriella." He hiccupped. "I asked her if she wanted to talk, and she nodded her head. Then I asked if she was forcing herself to be silent, and she shook her head no and started to cry."

"Aww, baby." Rebecca cooed as she took Troy into her arms and hugged him like she used to when he was a small boy and had grazed his knee.

"Does Maria know?" Rebecca asked after a while.

Troy shook his head. "We talked about it, but I was too upset to tell her what Brie confessed when I was about to leave."

"I'll go and ring her now. You go have a shower and then I'll reheat your dinner up for you." Rebecca said with a soft smile as she kissed Troy's temple.

"Thanks Mom." Troy said simply as he got up off the bed, wishing for nothing more than to have his best friend be able to be herself again.

**A/N: So there it is. I know it's nothing flash, but I've got a lot going on right now (see top author's note), so please review so I have something to make me smile.**


	7. Save This Lady

**A/N: Okay, so this is the next chapter, I like it, so I couldn't wait any longer to give it to you guys. So my record review number for this story is at 10, so it'd totally kick ass if you guys could beat that, and get me over the 50 mark!**

**This chapter explains briefly Gabriella's silence, and deals with the trial.**

**Plus, Super Sweet Troy features a lot in this chapter, but I don't want to give away what he does, you'll have to read that all for yourself! Enjoy!**

"Gabriella, are you ready sweetie?" Maria called out to her daughter, but she wasn't surprised when there was no response.

Gabriella had been found to have trauma-induced elective mutism, which explained her silence. The doctor had confirmed that she wasn't refusing to speak, she actually couldn't speak, proving Maria, Troy and Chad's thoughts right.

The night of abuse under the hands of Brian had shocked Gabriella so much that once it set in, she was simply unable to speak, no matter how hard she tried.

Nobody was sure when she would start to speak again, and they all assumed she would talk when she had got her head around the trauma she had experienced.

But the thing that had everyone most worried was that today was the day of the trial against Brian, and Gabriella _had_ to give evidence. Without Gabriella's evidence there was no trial, and so all her friends and her Mom were hoping that today was the she was to find her voice.

Maria knocked on Gabriella's bedroom door and then opened it slowly before stepping inside. She saw Gabriella sitting on her bed, looking through what looked to be a photo album.

"Baby, are you ready to go?" Maria asked again and Gabriella looked up, holding up one finger to signal for Maria to wait just one minute.

Gabriella hurried off the bed and into her bathroom where Maria could hear Gabriella brushing her teeth.

Maria picked up the photo album and looked at the photo Gabriella had been looking at. It was one of her and Troy taken last summer by Maria herself after Troy, Gabriella, Taylor and Chad had a water fight. Gabriella had jumped into Troy's arms and he'd started to spin her around in his arms, and Maria had gotten the perfect shot of the pair.

Gabriella entered the room again and Maria looked up at her only child.

"Gabi, honey. You miss Troy, don't you?" Maria asked carefully and Gabriella nodded quickly. When Gabriella had first stopped talking Troy had come over every day and still hung out with her, trying his hardest to make things as normal as possible. But then basketball season had started back up and Troy could only come over a few times a week, and Maria assumed he was finding it hard to deal with Gabriella's long period of silence.

"He's going to be there today, baby." Maria said with a soft smile and Gabriella's eyes turned to look at her Mom, a small smile creeping onto her lips.

Maria took Gabriella's hand in her own and looked her daughter up and down. Gabriella was wearing a knee length black skirt and a white blouse with a white singlet underneath it. On her feet were a pair of black ballet flats and her hair was down in her natural curls.

"Let's go, baby." Maria said gently and she started to lead Gabriella out of her bedroom, hearing her daughter sigh heavily at the upcoming events of the day.

Troy was nervously waiting outside the court room for Gabriella and Maria to arrive. He was looking forward to seeing Gabriella since he hadn't done so for the past few days and he felt his heart leap into his throat as he saw his best friend approaching him and his parents. As soon as Gabriella saw Troy she started running, taking a flying leap into Troy's arms. Troy caught her easily, wrapping his arms around Gabriella's waist as he lifted her gently off the ground, her arms wrapped around his neck as she clung on tightly. Their parents watched, thinking that this would be a perfect moment if they weren't waiting for the trial of the man who raped and assaulted Gabriella.

"Hey Bee." Troy said with a smile as he placed her back on the ground, wondering what had caused her sudden outburst of affection. Gabriella shot a smile back at her friend before turning back to the adults and shrugging her shoulders.

"Shall we go inside?" Rebecca asked and Maria and Jack nodded their heads, starting their way inside, leaving the teenagers to follow behind them. Gabriella and Maria had to sit in a different part of the courtroom to Troy and his parents, since Gabriella was giving evidence. Maria and Rebecca hugged briefly as Gabriella and Troy realized they were holding hands, neither of them knowing when it happened.

Troy squeezed Gabriella's hand tightly for a second before dropping her hand from his and following his Dad into the public gallery.

Gabriella took a deep breath as she watched Troy walk away from her, determined that after today she would get her life back to normal.

Maria led Gabriella to their seats, chatting softly about anything to try and keep Gabriella's mind from focusing on the events that she was going to need to talk about in a very short time.

Gabriella somehow got through the start of the trial without paying attention. But when she heard the judge call her name she snapped her head up, looking at her Mom for support. Maria tried her hardest to smile at Gabriella, and to look reassuring and Gabriella stood up and headed to the stands for questioning, noticing for the first time that Brian was in the room. Gabriella averted her eyes and searched the public gallery for Troy, feeling her nerves settle slightly as she located his bright blue eyes in the crowd.

"Gabriella, is it true that you were cheating on Mr. Eastall?" Brian's lawyer asked, starting the interrogation with a harsh question.

Gabriella took a large breath as she willed herself to speak.

"No." Gabriella said, her voice so quiet nobody could hear her.

"Pardon Miss Montez?" The lawyer asked.

"No, I wasn't cheating on Brian. But I had feelings for one of my friends and Brian found out." She said a little more boldly, looking back up at Troy and noticing a smile come across his face at the words she spoke. The more she was interrogated the more bold her statements got and the easier she found it to speak.

She even managed to stare Brian down as she explained the events that happened that night and when she looked back at her Mom, and the Bolton's they all had tears in their eyes at her braveness.

Finally Gabriella was allowed back to her seat next to Maria and as she was walking she reconnected her eyes with Troy's and he shot her a huge smile, Gabriella sent a shy one back and then took her place back next to Maria to await the rest of the trial.

Because of the evidence stacked up against Brian in all of Gabriella's medical records from the night of the attack it didn't take long for the trial to be over. By lunchtime the judge was ready to give the verdict and Gabriella turned around in her seat to look at Troy once more. Troy was watching her closely and was pleased when she turned around and he waved at her, not caring that he probably looked like an idiot.

Gabriella tore herself away from Troy's gaze as the judge started to read out the verdict, and she subconsciously grabbed hold of Maria's hand in nervousness.

"Brian Eastall, I find you guilty of one charge of assault and one charge of rape on Miss Gabriella Montez." The judge started and cheers were heard all around the courtroom as Maria hugged Gabriella tightly.

Judge Peterson brought the court back to order so he could announce Brian's sentence.

"Brian Eastall, I sentence you to six years for the rape of Gabriella Montez and a further four years for the assault of Gabriella Montez. The sentence of ten years is to be carried out at California State Prison with a non parole period of six years. Thank you." Judge Peterson announced, standing up as the crowd stood up so he could leave the courtroom.

Brian was lead out in handcuffs by two police officers and as he left the room he looks straight at Gabriella with a smirk on his face.

"They can't take me away from your forever, Gabriella." He yelled back into the courtroom and Gabriella froze, his words ringing in her head.

"Gabriella!" Came the voice of Jack as he swept her into a hug, and when he released her Rebecca gave her a hug as well. The adults were so happy with the sentencing that they hadn't even realized Gabriella's change in demeanor. Troy watched his best friend as she stood motionless, letting her Mom and his parents chat around her, a blank look on her face.

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_A month after the trial.._

"Gabriella?" Maria called up the stairs. "Troy's here to see you."

There was no answer from upstairs and so Maria told Troy to just go on up and Troy followed her instructions, heading up to Gabriella's room.

He knocked on her bedroom door before pushing it open and wandering inside.

"Bee?" He asked when he saw Gabriella curled up on her bed, tears streaming down her face. Troy froze in his spot, wondering if he should comfort her or call Maria to deal with it. Gabriella made no movement and Troy decided to try and get Gabriella to talk to him because he figured Maria probably knew that Gabriella was upset.

It was a month after the trial and Gabriella had for the most part been good, considering what she had been through, but some days she reverted back to the way she had been in those months of silence, though she hadn't completely stopped talking again, and for that everyone was glad.

Troy got to the bed and sat down gently on the edge, careful not to startle Gabriella who hadn't seemed to notice he was there yet.

"Bee?" He tried again, reaching out his hand towards her as she snapped her head up to focus her attention on Troy.

"Troy." She managed to get out through her gasps of breath. "He's going to get me."

"Brian's locked up, Gabriella." Troy said, firmly but reassuringly. "He can't get you, I won't let him get near you ever again."

"They can't keep me away from you forever." Gabriella echoed Brian's words from the day of the trial. "They can't keep me away from you forever. Away from you forever. From you forever. Forever. Forever." Gabriella babbled.

Troy quickly wrapped Gabriella up in his arms, rocking her gently as he rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying to comfort her as she muttered the word "Forever." Over and over.

Eventually Gabriella had settled into a deep sleep and Troy moved her out of his arms, tucking her under her covers, a soft smile taking over his face as Gabriella clung to him when he tried to move away, forcing him to slip out of his zip up hoody which Gabriella immediately pulled towards her, cuddling it as if it really was Troy.

Troy sat and watched her for a few more minutes, glad she looked peaceful, even if it was to end up in a nightmare, as all her sleeping had done over the last month, he knew it was important for her to get as much rest as she could.

Troy slowly got off the bed and made his way down to find Maria.

"Hey Troy." Maria greeted. "Is Gabi still unhappy?"

"She thinks Brian's going to get her. She just kept repeating what he said in the court room until she was just babbling." Troy replied sadly, sitting down on the couch across from Maria.

"Is she asleep now?" Maria asked and Troy nodded. "She really needs you Troy." Maria added.

"I need her just as much." Troy said, his voice barely above a whisper. "The day that it all happened, we kissed in detention. She was breaking up with him to be with me, Maria."

"Troy, you can't blame yourself. You'd never do anything to put Gabriella in danger. I know that, she knows that." Maria soothed. Troy nodded in response and the pair sat in silence until a cry from upstairs caused them both to snap to attention.

"I'll go see her, Maria." Troy said with a weak smile. "You need to rest."

Troy got up from the couch and went upstairs to Gabriella's bedroom, quickly pushing the door open to reveal Gabriella sitting upright in bed, her back pressed hard against the headboard of her bed.

"Get out! No, Brian!" She cried, looking straight ahead, not even noticing Troy had entered the room.

Troy slowly walked over to the bed, talking to Gabriella as he did so.

"Brie, it's me, Troy. Brian's not here, remember? He's in jail where he belongs."

"Please don't." Gabriella whispered, wrapping her arms around herself as she began to rock, hitting the back of her head against the headboard every time she rocked backwards. Troy put his hand behind her head, protecting her skull as she continued to rock, muttering things under her breath that Troy couldn't decipher.

Eventually she closed her eyes again, her head lolling to the side as she slipped back into sleep. Troy helped her to lie down, pulling the covers back over her body as her breathing evened out. The sound of Troy's cell phone ringing startled him in the quiet room and he quickly pulled the offending object out of his pocket and flipped it open before it could wake up Gabriella. He sat down on the other side of her bedroom on the white couch she had next to her bookcase.

"Hello?" He asked quietly, not wanting to wake up Gabriella, but not wanting to leave the room incase she woke up again.

"Hey Troy, have you talked to Gabi lately, she never seems to be around." Taylor asked and Troy looked back over towards Gabriella's sleeping form.

"I'm at her house right now. She's having a bad day so I'm just helping Maria out." Troy answered as a smile crept onto his face.

"You're so sweet, Troy. How is she doing, overall?"

"Thanks Tay. I think she just needs a distraction, and we all know I'm pretty distracting!" Troy laughed gently and as Taylor replied he knew she was rolling her eyes at him.

"You think she'd want to hang out tonight? Just us, Chad, Kelsi and Jason? We could do it at her house so she'd be more comfortable."

"I think that's a good plan. I think she'd enjoy being able to forget about everything and just hang out with her friends. I'll get her to ring you when she wakes up, Tay."

"Sweet, I'll let you get back to gazing at her adoringly." Taylor teased and Troy couldn't help but blush.

"Good bye, Taylor." Troy replied again laughing gently.

"Bye Troy."

Troy ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket before he stretched out on the couch, keeping his eyes firmly on Gabriella.

After a while his eyes started to get heavy and he let his eyes close for just a second, slipping into a light sleep.

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Gabriella woke up a short time later and as she sat up in bed and focused her eyes she saw Troy fast asleep on her couch and she couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face. He looked adorable and she couldn't believe that he'd stuck around even though she had been asleep all afternoon.

Gabriella slowly got out of her bed and walked over to the couch, kneeling down next to Troy.

"Troy." She whispered softly as she pushed some hair off his face, her fingers lingering on his cheeks for a second as Troy's eyes fluttered open.

"Hey sleepyhead." He mumbled as his eyes focused on Gabriella, noticing she didn't look upset.

"Hey." Gabriella greeted. "How long have you been here for?"

"Uh, a few hours? I'm not sure."

"Was I awake when you got here?"

"Not really. You were conscious.." Troy trailed off, averting his gaze from Gabriella's.

"But?" Gabriella questioned, wondering what she could've been doing, or saying, when Troy arrived earlier.

"You were convinced he was here to get you. You were curled up in a ball crying, repeating…" Troy rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he stared at the ground. "You were repeating what he said to you when he got taken away…" Troy lifted his gaze back up to Gabriella as she clasped a hand over her mouth, shock evident in her eyes, and Troy could tell she really didn't remember it.

"I'm sorry, Troy. You shouldn't of had to see that." She whispered, tears filling up her eyes as she started to sink to the ground.

But Troy reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down onto the couch alongside him. He wrapped his arms around her as he pulled her close, feeling her body tremble against his own as the tears started falling.

"Brie, baby. Please don't cry." Troy begged, tangling the fingers of one of his hands in her dark curls as the other rubbed her back gently.

Gabriella choked on her tears, willing herself to stop crying as Troy's touch calmed her almost instantly. She looked up at Troy, blinking a few times as a few tears continued on their way down her cheeks and Troy lifted his hand from her back to wipe away the tears, his thumb caressing her cheek gently.

Gabriella and Troy's eyes locked as blue orbs met brown and they both leaned in the small distance to join their lips in a sweet kiss and as they pulled apart both had identical smiles.

"Troy. Can I tell you something?" Gabriella asked in a soft voice, her breath tickling Troy's lips.

"You can tell me anything, Bee." Troy replied.

"Sometimes, when I'm with you. I want to kiss you so badly, and every other time I've stopped myself." Gabriella looked nervous as she looked back up with Troy and saw his smile stretching even wider which calmed her nerves a whole lot.

"Don't stop yourself." Troy whispered, moving his lips back against Gabriella's, relieved when she kissed him back.

"I can't just fool around with you, though Troy." Gabriella whispered after they caught their breath. "Being close to you makes me nervous sometimes, and I couldn't do the whole friends with benefits thing."

Troy cupped Gabriella's face in his hands, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Gabriella, I promise you I'll never make you do anything that you're uncomfortable with."

"I know you won't Troy." Gabriella connected their lips again, letting Troy deepen the kiss slightly this time before they pulled away.

"And to fix the second part. Brie, will you be my girlfriend?" Troy's heart raced as he watched Gabriella comprehend the question.

"Yes." She whispered as Troy pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

The pair stayed hugging until Troy's phone started to ring in his pocket and Gabriella reluctantly moved her body away from his slightly so he could answer it.

"Hello?" He asked quite breathlessly. "Yeah Tay, she's right here."

Troy handed the phone to Gabriella, and she held the phone up to her ear.

"Hey Tay." She greeted, twisting around so she had her back against Troy's chest. "Yeah I just woke up not long ago so Troy hadn't given me the message yet."

Troy was laying so close to Gabriella he could hear Taylor's voice through the phone as well.

"Do you want to hang out tonight? We'll have a movie night with the boys or something." Taylor offered.

"I don't know if I can handle lots of people, Tay." Gabriella replied and Troy felt her body stiffen against his. Troy reached his arms around her waist, pulling her body even closer to his and Gabriella instantly relax.

"Come on Gabi, we'll hang out tonight, just a few of us." Taylor pleaded.

"I'm not sure, Tay.."

"Please, Brie?" Troy whispered in her ear that wasn't covered by the phone and Gabriella felt shivers go down her spine as his breath tickled her ear.

"We can watch movies. And we can play truth or dare, that's always fun." Taylor pleaded some more.

"Okay, I'll be there…" Gabriella replied, and Taylor cheered loudly in her ear as Troy placed a chaste kiss just below her ear.

"I think we should have it at your house. You have the best movie selection." Taylor said and Gabriella laughed lightly.

"Okay, be here at seven. Tell Chad, Kelsi and Jason."

"Okay! Bye Gabi!"

"Bye Tay."

Gabriella handed the phone back to Troy and he flipped her over in his arms.

"It's 5.30 now. Do you want to shower and I'll go tell your Mom that we're taking over her house tonight and then go shower at my house, then come back here?" Troy asked once Gabriella was facing him again.

"Who said you were invited, Bolton?" Gabriella teased and Troy felt his heart skip a beat at her words, noticing how much she seemed like her old self, despite her bad moments earlier in the day.

"You know you'd miss me if I wasn't here, Montez." Troy shot back and Gabriella giggled before reaching her mouth up to connect with his once more.

"Brie." Troy mumbled against Gabriella's lips. "If I don't leave now we're never going to get off this couch."

Gabriella reluctantly pulled away from Troy, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"What if I don't want to get off this couch?" She asked innocently before she quickly rolled her body on top of Troy's pinning him gently to the couch, her legs on either side of his waist and her hands either side of his head.

"Then I'll have to make you." Troy replied, putting his hands on her hips as he sat them both up.

"Still not moving." Gabriella sung and Troy couldn't help but smile at how cute she was being.

"Still going to make you." Troy replied in the same singsong voice, twisting their bodies so his feet were flat on the floor.

Gabriella burst into giggles as Troy stood up and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as Troy carried her to the bathroom and set her down on the counter.

Gabriella kept her limbs wrapped tightly around Troy as his smile grew wider.

"If you don't let go Montez…" Troy warned in a light, teasing tone, drawing his mouth closer to hers. "There will be consequences."

"I'm willing to deal with them." Gabriella whispered in a sultry tone, moving her lips across the tiny space to connect with Troy's. Their kiss soon became heated, and Troy ran his tongue across her bottom lip, needing to feel their tongues dancing together.

Gabriella granted him entrance and their tongues quickly became engaged in a dominance war, causing Gabriella to let out a small moan.

Troy pulled away soon after, resting his forehead against Gabriella's.

"As much as I'd love to spend the next few hours making out with you, _girlfriend._" He grinned. "I need to go have a really cold shower."

Gabriella blushed as she noticed for the first time the slight bulge in Troy's pants.

"Sorry." She giggled and Troy kissed her forehead as he started to unwind her limbs from around his body.

"Don't be." He laughed, helping her down off the counter before pulling her into a quick embrace.

"I'm really not." Gabriella giggled as she stepped away from Troy.

"I'll see you in about an hour?" Troy asked, wanting to give her enough time to finish her shower in peace.

"An hour." Gabriella nodded, following him to the bathroom door where she stood on her tip toes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Troy accepted the kiss and reluctantly turned to leave, taking another look at Gabriella before he left her bedroom and headed downstairs to tell Maria about the impromptu sleepover they were going to have that night.

"Maria?" He called out as he walked towards the kitchen.

"In the kitchen Troy, is Gabi okay?" Maria called back, and when her eyes met with Troy's once again sparkling cerulean coloured eyes she knew that things were much better than they had been when she had last seen Troy a few hours ago.

"She's fine. She's taking a shower because Taylor, Chad, Kelsi and Jason are coming over tonight for movies and a sleepover, is that okay?" Troy asked, knowing Maria would be fine with it, she always was.

"That's okay with me, Troy." Maria nodded, sensing there was something else Troy wanted to tell her from the way he scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Maria?" He asked quietly.

"What's wrong, Troy?" Maria asked, stepping towards the teenager who was just like a son to her.

"I asked Brie to be my girlfriend and she said yes." He confessed, his voice spilling the words out quickly.

A huge smile spread across Maria's face as she swept Troy into a tight hug.

"Congratulations." She beamed as their embrace ended, and Troy felt a blush grow on his cheeks.

"Thanks, Maria. I'll be back in about an hour to help Brie get ready for people coming over." Troy said as he started to leave the kitchen.

"I'll go down and get some snacks when you get back." Maria said as she watched Troy raise his hand in a small wave before he disappeared from her view.

The smile on Maria's face stayed put as she thought about the fact that her only daughter had a boyfriend, and he was the sweetest teenage boy that Maria had ever know, and she knew that he had the best intentions when it came to her Gabriella.

**A/N: So, please be one of the 11 reviewers I need to get my 50 reviews, cause 2700 hits and only 29 reviews is kinda sad…That's like, one review every 69 times the story is read (excuse the calculations, my brain is in exploding mode right now).**

**Bye!**


	8. Love Rollercoaster

Troy was home in less than a minute, because he only lived next door to Gabriella and he was in his room in record time, tryin

**A/N: Here is the new chapter, just a warning to those of you who also read The Look In Your Eyes that I've put the story on a small hiatus while I figure my life out, because it's the harder of the two stories to write and I still need to write to get my release. So I hope you enjoy this chapter, tis full of little fluffy moments and the general pointless bickering I love writing. And gasp really minimal sexytime (I know, shock, horror), but I like this chapter, and I'm proud of it! So read, enjoy and then hit that little review button, I missed my 50 target by 3, so do me proud this time!**

Troy was home in less than a minute, because he only lived next door to Gabriella, and he was in his room in record time, trying to decide what he should wear.

"_Wait, am I trying to impress Gabriella?_" Troy thought to himself as he dismissed one of his favourite t-shirts of not being neat enough to wear that night.

"_Get a grip, she's your best friend. She's seen you first thing in the morning, when you've been sick, after a basketball game, everything. She won't care what you're wearing._" Troy reasoned with himself, selecting his favourite blue polo shirt and a pair of jeans. He grabbed a pair of boxers and hurried into his bathroom, turning on the shower and undressing down to just his boxers.

While he waited for the water to become hot enough Troy looked at himself in the mirror, running a hand along his jaw-line, feeling the smooth skin underneath as he remembered he'd shaved only that morning.

He looked helplessly for some flaw to fix, and sighed deeply when he found nothing wrong with his skin, eyes or hair. Grumbling slightly to himself he climbed into the shower and suddenly realized that he felt like a 14 year old on his first date.

"Snap out of it, Bolton." He said softly to himself as he let the hot water scald his skin and relax his body.

Troy let the water wash over his body until it started go cold before he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist, walking into his bedroom realizing he'd been in the shower for over forty-five minutes.

He quickly put on his boxers, jeans, shirt and socks before locating his favourite black hoody and black and white slip-on Vans shoes.

Holding the hoody and the shoes Troy wandered downstairs to find his Mom and tell her of his plans for the night.

"Mom?" He called out when he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Kitchen, Troy." Rebecca called out and Troy headed into the kitchen.

"Hey Mom, is it alright if I stay at Brie's house tonight?" He asked as he sat down at the breakfast nook and started putting on his shoes, looking up when he realized his Mom hadn't answered him.

Troy noticed a worried look on Rebecca's face and he instantly knew that Maria had told her about him and Gabriella already.

"You've been talking to Maria, haven't you?" He accused with a sly grin.

"Maybe I have…" Rebecca blushed.

"Mom, other people are staying too. Taylor, Chad, Jason and Kelsi. And we're all sleeping in the living room, okay?" Troy said with a small laugh, amused at how many times he'd been allowed alone with Gabriella in the past 17 years, but now suddenly she was his girlfriend and his Mom started to get protective.

"Okay, you can stay." Rebecca gave in, happy she had done so when Troy's face lit up in a huge smile.

"Thanks Mom. I'll be home sometime tomorrow." Troy said as he got off the stool and walked over to Rebecca, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "Bye."

"Bye Troy." Rebecca said back. "Have a good night, sweetie."

Troy found his grin growing wider as he crossed his yard to Gabriella's and let himself in the front door.

"What do you kids need for tonight, Troy?" Maria asked him as he shut the door behind him and startling Troy as he didn't realise she was there.

"Oh, hi Maria. Uh, just the usual snacks? Soda, potato chips, popcorn?"

"Okay, can you tell Gabi I'll be home in about an hour? And I'm going to have dinner with your parents and then we're going to have our own movie night at your house." Maria laughed.

"Okay, Maria. See you in an hour." Troy chuckled as he headed up the stairs to Gabriella's bedroom, his heart starting to pound as he neared the top, he heard the front door open and then close once more, signaling Maria was gone and he and Gabriella would be alone for the next hour.

As Troy neared Gabriella's bedroom he could hear her sweet voice singing and Troy instantly knew she'd be brushing her hair.

He knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open, not wanting to startle Gabriella.

"Hey, Troy." Gabriella smiled, putting down her hairbrush and wandering over to where Troy was standing.

Gabriella was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants that fit her curves perfectly, and one of Troy's t-shirts he'd left at her house months ago.

Gabriella stood in front of Troy and he couldn't help but reach out and run his hands down her sides, stopping when he got to her waist and pulling her closer.

"Hey yourself." He whispered huskily as Gabriella giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I missed you." Gabriella admitted, tilting her head up to look into Troy's blue orbs as they both smiled like idiots.

"I was only gone an hour, silly." Troy teased, brushing his nose against Gabriella's.

"Sixty three minutes." Gabriella replied as she placed a soft kiss on the corner of Troy's mouth.

"Huh?" Troy asked, too wrapped up in the feel of Gabriella's soft lips against his skin to take in what she had said.

"You were gone sixty three minutes." Gabriella repeated, her eyes sparkling as she watched Troy's smile grow.

"I can see you're going to be high maintenance, Miss Montez. Timing me and already wearing my clothes. The rate this relationship is going I'll have no clothes left by the time we get to six months of dating." Troy teased, sweeping Gabriella up in his arms, spinning her around as she burst into giggles, tightening her grip around his neck as she became giddy.

"Troy." She giggled. "I'm getting dizzy."

"What? Your hair's frizzy? Nope, I think it looks pretty beautiful to me." Troy teased, spinning them closer to the bed.

"Troy! I'm going to be sick if you don't…" Gabriella was cut of as Troy fell back onto the bed, bringing her body down onto his.

"Better?" Troy asked as they caught their breath.

"Much." Gabriella replied as she reached her mouth up to connect with Troy's, engaging their lips in a sensual kiss.

After they broke apart Troy slid up the bed, taking Gabriella with him so he was sitting with his back against the headboard and Gabriella was sitting across his lap.

"So who else have you told?" Gabriella asked.

"Told what?" Troy asked, confusion apparent in his tone.

"About us. Mom came up and congratulated me just after you left." Gabriella snuck a look at Troy and noticed he looked really worried.

"Brie, I'm sorry. I just didn't want her to see us tonight and notice that we were holding hands or something. She might of gotten mad if she found out that way and then she told my Mom. So my Dad probably knows now too. I'm really sorry." Troy rambled.

"Troy." Gabriella said, trying to stifle her giggles. "You're so cute when you're nervous."

"You're not mad! Oh you're going to pay." Troy lunged his fingers into Gabriella's sides, tickling her as she squealed with laughter and pleaded him to forgive her.

Eventually Troy had Gabriella pinned to the bed and stopped with the tickling.

"Now say Troy Bolton is the best boyfriend in the world and he's super good looking and I'll let you up." He teased, his body hovering over Gabriella's.

"Troy, please let me up." Gabriella pleaded, tears filling her eyes. Troy quickly moved off her, letting Gabriella get off the bed and move to the other side of the room.

Troy was unsure whether he should go and comfort her or just let her calm down, and he made the decision to move nearer to her, but not to touch her, just try to calm her down.

"Bee, I'm sorry." Troy said softly, his voice quivering with nervousness. "Please, baby."

Gabriella moved her gaze from the carpet to Troy, finding herself getting lost in the blues of his eyes. She made a step towards him so she could grasp his hands in her own while she tried her best to explain to Troy what she was feeling.

"It's not you, Troy." She whispered. "It's just, well, it reminds me of B-b-brian."

"Oh Bee, I didn't even think of it." Troy gasped, taking a small step in her direction, glad when she didn't move away from him but instead took the last few steps towards Troy, wrapping her arms around him and embracing him tightly.

Troy returned the hug, tears welling up in his own eyes as he realized just how careful he was going to have to be with Gabriella if he didn't want her to end up more hurt than she already was.

Gabriella pulled back from Troy's shoulder when she had been resting her head and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Don't ever be sorry for something that isn't your fault." Troy responded, brushing away the few tears left on Gabriella's cheeks.

Gabriella smiled at his touch, leaning against his hand slightly as Troy continued to caress the soft skin of her face.

"Mmmm." Gabriella moaned softly as Troy chuckled at her.

"You're adorable." He said matter of factly, causing Gabriella to blush.

"Am not."

"Are so."

"No way."

"Yes way."

"Trooooy." Gabriella whined, pouting at him.

"Beeee." Troy whined in the same way.

"I hate you." Gabriella said as she turned away from him and walked over to her dressing table, pretending to be absorbed in her makeup.

"No you don't." Troy challenged as he made his way to stand behind her.

"Yep, I do." Gabriella replied casually, picking up a tube of lip gloss and starting to apply it as she looked in the mirror.

"So you hate when I do this?" Troy asked, running his hands down the sides of her body, making Gabriella shiver involuntarily.

"Yeah." Gabriella replied, her voice sounding a little shaky.

"And this?" Troy asked, brushing aside her dark curls and pressing his lips gently to Gabriella's neck, littering her skin with soft kisses.

"Uh huh." Gabriella almost moaned, leaning back into Troy's body a little bit more.

"So if I was to have my lips here." Troy kissed her neck once more, sucking gently this time. "And my hands here." He moved his hands to rest low on her hips. "And I was to move my body like this." Troy started to grind his hips, moving against Gabriella's ass. "You'd still hate me?" Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear as he started to softly suck on Gabriella's neck once more as her body started to move with his own.

"No.." Gabriella managed to get out as she reached up and wound her arms around Troy's neck, keeping his mouth close to her neck as she started to play with the hair at the nape of Troy's neck.

"Didn't think so." Troy whispered huskily as he slipped his hands a little lower, making sure he wouldn't be scaring Gabriella off, but Gabriella was so wrapped up in the feel of Troy against her she didn't notice.

"I love you, Gabriella." Troy whispered once more, sucking on the lobe of her ear as Gabriella finally let out a moan.

Gabriella turned her body slightly so her lips could meet with Troy's. After a few seconds Gabriella pulled away, turning her body completely so she was facing Troy.

"How the fuck did you do that?" Gabriella asked in amazement.

"Do what?" Troy asked slyly.

"All of that. Getting me to dance with you when there's not even any music, and make me feel so…" Gabriella's voice trailed off as she tried to think of the word to describe how she was feeling.

"So turned on? And I don't think that's technically dancing, Brie, I think we were grinding, as the kids call it these days." Troy answered cockily.

Gabriella slapped Troy's arm playfully.

"Something like that, Troy. Something like that." Gabriella replied with an eye roll as the front door opened and Taylor's voice filled the house.

"Gabi, where are you?" She called out and Gabriella stepped away from Troy, heading to the door to go downstairs and meet her friend.

"Me and Troy are coming down now, Tay!" Gabriella called back. "Oh and Troy?" Gabriella said as she turned back to face Troy. "I love you too."

Gabriella turned away from Troy and headed out the door, leaving Troy to run slightly to catch up with her.

LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.

A few hours later Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, Kelsi and Jason were sitting around in a circle on Gabriella's living room floor, preparing to play Truth or Dare.

They had spent the past few hours talking about what each of them had gotten up to on their midterm break so far, and just hung out, chatting about a million different subjects.

Gabriella and Troy had managed to go most of those two hours without giving away their new status to their friends, both nervous about how they would react, but their friends had already devised a plan to get their friends together, a plan they would be putting into unnecessary action rather soon.

"Gabriella, you can spin the bottle, since it's your house." Taylor instructed, starting up the teen's version of spin the bottle Truth or Dare. The person who spun the bottom got to do the truth or dare to the person who the bottle landed on.

Gabriella spun the bottle and it landed on Chad.

"Chad, truth or dare?" Gabriella asked.

"Uh, truth." Chad said, and his friends all booed his decision.

"Okay, have you ever accidentally called Taylor by the wrong name?" Gabriella asked with a giggle.

"Not that I'm aware of.." Chad said, looking to his girlfriend for help.

"Nope." Taylor confirmed and everyone nodded their heads.

Chad spun the bottle next and it landed on Kelsi.

"Kels, Truth or Dare."

"Truth." Replied Kelsi, not trusting a dare that Chad would give her.

"How far have you gone with Jason?" Chad asked with a sly grin, knowing that Jason had never told the guys, and as far as he knew Kelsi hadn't told the girls either.

"All the way." Kelsi admitted, blushing like mad.

Cheers came from the other two couples and Jason and Kelsi continued to blush. Kelsi finally reached out and spun the bottle, and it landed on Gabriella.

"Gabi, truth or dare?" Kelsi asked, hoping Gabriella picked dare.

"Since you guys are all too wimpy to pick it, I'll be brave and say dare." Gabriella said boldly. Taylor and Kelsi looked at each other, excitement evident in their eyes.

"Gabi, I dare you to kiss Troy." Kelsi announced.

Gabriella smirked at Troy and raised her eyebrows at him.

"You up for it, Bolton?" Gabriella teased and Troy quickly crashed his lips to Gabriella's, their lips working together to get them in a heated kiss. Troy ran his tongue along Gabriella's bottom lip and Gabriella let his tongue in. As their tongues danced together their friends looked on in amazement, Troy had his hands firmly on Gabriella's hips and Gabriella had her own hands tangled in Troy's hair as they kissed passionately.

"Wow." Taylor commented as the four watched their friends continue to kiss as if they weren't even in the room with them.

Finally Troy and Gabriella sheepishly broke apart, grins covering their faces as they turned back to their friends who were still in shock.

"Guys, I want you to meet my new girlfriend." Troy said with a laugh.

Taylor practically jumped on Gabriella, giving her a huge hug as the others laughed in amusement.

"I've been waiting for this moment, for like. Ever." Taylor announced as she released her grip on Gabriella and settled back into her seat next to Chad.

Troy still had one of his arms around Gabriella and the fingers of his other hand were laced with Gabriella's.

The group got back into the game, and eventually the bottle was spun by Jason and landed on Kelsi who picked dare.

"I dare you to show everyone one of the songs you wrote for the winter musical." Jason challenged his girlfriend.

"Only if Gabi sings it." Kelsi said, looking at Gabriella with pleading eyes.

"Only if Troy sings with me." Gabriella giggled, looking up at Troy, a pout playing on her lips.

"I don't know the song, Brie." Troy whined.

"I have a sheet of the music here, Kelsi lent it to me to look over the other day. Please?" Gabriella begged.

"Okay, I can't say no to that face." Troy replied, kissing Gabriella gently before she pulled him to his feet and led him over to the piano, handing him the sheet of music.

Kelsi sat down at the piano, waiting for Troy to quickly read over the lyrics before she began to play the music.

Troy kept his eyes on the sheet as he started to sing, his voice singing the lyrics perfectly, even though he'd never heard the song before.

"It's hard to believe that I couldn't see, you were always there beside me." He sung, looking at Gabriella with a huge grin on his face.

Gabriella's voice came in perfectly, her sweet sound filling the room.

"Thought I was alone, with no one to hold." She sung, keeping her eyes firmly on Troy.

Troy shifted his gaze back to the sheet as they kept singing, their voices mixing perfectly as the sung through the rest of the lyrics, stealing glances at one another occasionally.

"But you were always there beside me. This feeling's like no other, I want you to know I've never had someone that knows me like you do, the way you do. I've never had someone as good for me as you, no one like you. So lonely before I finally found what I've been looking for…"

Everyone stood silently once the couple had finished singing, nobody except Gabriella really heard Troy sing that often, and they were all amazed at how perfectly his voice flowed with Gabriella, almost as if they'd sung the song together a million times before.

"Troy, we dare you to try out for the musical with Gabi." Chad challenged after a few moments of stunned silence.

"But guys, my Dad'll never let me be in the musical with basketball."

"It's a dare dude, you gotta do it." Chad shot back.

"Chad, it's not even my turn." Troy pointed out.

"Are you trying to get out of the dare, Bolton?" Taylor asked with a sly grin, knowing Troy hated to lose, especially a dare.

"Okay! Okay! If Brie wants to try out, I will too." Troy finally said, raising his hands up in defeat.

Later that night the three couples occupied the three couches of Gabriella's living room. Chad and Taylor were laying side by side on their couch, Taylor was fast asleep and Chad still focused on the movie the group had been watching. Jason was spooning Kelsi, the pair both fast asleep as they had been since almost the start of the movie.

Lastly were Troy and Gabriella, laying on their sides facing each other, stealing occasional kisses as they chatted quietly to each other.

"So you'll really try out for the musical with me?" Gabriella asked, an excited sparkle in her eyes.

"Anything to make you happy." Troy responded, kissing her gently.

"I love you." Gabriella whispered against Troy's lips.

"I love you too, Brie." Troy whispered back, rolling onto his back and bringing Gabriella tightly to his side. "Let's get to sleep, it's almost 3am."

"Chad, when the movie finished turn it off, okay?" Gabriella called out to Chad.

"Okay, Gabs." Chad nodded, never taking his eyes off the tv screen.

Gabriella rested her head on Troy's shoulder, draping her arm over his stomach as he put both his arms around her and hugged her to him tightly, both of them falling into a sweet sleep within a few minutes.

LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.LOVE.

Troy was the first to wake up the next morning, and as soon as his eyes adjusted to the darkened room he spotted Gabriella. She'd shifted slightly in the night so she was now half on top of Troy's body, her head on his chest and her left leg hooked over his own, her pelvis slightly against his own, pressing gently into his slight bulge in his boxers. Troy tried to move a little from underneath her body, not wanting to freak her out if she woke up and felt his harness, but it just caused Gabriella to clamp her leg tighter against Troy.

Giving up Troy decided to just enjoy her closeness and he bent his head slightly to kiss the top of her head. He gently played with her curls while he waited for her to wake up, and she did a few minutes later, looking up at Troy and blinking rapidly until the sleep stopped clouding her vision and she realized where she was.

"Morning, beautiful." Troy whispered.

"Morning, Superstar." Gabriella whispered back, reaching her lips up for a gentle kiss.

"Superstar?" Troy questioned as Gabriella rested her head back on his chest, slipping her hand under his shirt to draw patterns on his toned stomach with her fingers.

"You're the Wildcats Superstar, aren't you?" Gabriella questioned.

"Uh, am I?" Troy asked, ever the modest one.

"Yeah. Well that's what everyone calls you. So now you're _my _superstar." Gabriella confirmed with a small giggle.

"You're the boss." Troy teased.

Gabriella lifted herself up so she was laying on Troy, chest to chest. Gabriella held herself up on her forearms as she smiled down at the blue-eyed boy below her.

"Hi." She whispered.

"Hello there, gorgeous." Troy teased. "You'll have to watch my girlfriend doesn't see you on me like this, she'd be awfully mad."

"Well then, we'll just have to stop it, won't we?" Gabriella replied, rolling off Troy and laying with her back towards him.

Troy rolled over to be spooning Gabriella, his mouth right by her ear.

"Bee. Don't be mean." He pouted, wrapping his arms around Gabriella as she pretended not to hear, or feel him. "Beeeee."

"Sorry, I wouldn't want to do anything to upset your girlfriend." Gabriella teased, and suddenly she felt herself be rolled over so she was on her back, Troy's bright blue eyes above her, a mischievous sparkle in them as he lent down to kiss her.

"You're the only girl I want." Troy whispered as he moved his lips away from Gabriella's, leaving them both short of breath.

"Won't your girlfriend be mad?" Gabriella asked, wrapping her arms around Troy's neck, trying to pull him down to connect their mouths back together.

"Brie. Shut up." Troy laughed gently as he let himself be pulled back to Gabriella's waiting lips, kissing her deeply.

"Oi. Lovebirds." Came Chad's voice and the pair broke apart sheepishly.

"Chad!" Taylor's voice came, followed by the sound of skin hitting skin as she slapped Chad's arm.

"Ow! Tay!" Came Chad's protests, and Troy and Gabriella laughed, realizing Chad was now too busy trying to sweet talk Chad that he'd forgotten about interrupting their "moment."

"You know what?" Gabriella asked softly as she peered up at Troy, finding herself getting lost in his sparkling eyes.

"Not personally." Troy teased, receiving a playful slap from Gabriella to his chest. "Ow, damn girl. You've been hanging around that McKessie far too much."

"I was going to be nice and say that last night was the best sleep I've had in months, but I don't think you deserve the compliment anymore." Gabriella said, shaking her head when Troy started to pout at her. "Nope, you've done it now, Bolton."

Gabriella slid out from under Troy as she noticed Taylor getting up and heading to the kitchen. Gabriella followed her, turning around to poke her tongue out at Troy who was gazing adoringly at her.

"So how did it happen?" Taylor asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

And for the first time since the Brian episode, Gabriella spent an entire day with her friends, talking, laughing and just enjoying herself.

**A/N: Okay, there it is, 8 pages of rather fluffy writing lol. The next chapter is going to be full of so much drama that you'll probably all hate me, but it's gunna happen anyways! Don't forget to review, so I have the motivation to give you guys nice long chapters like this one! Plus I hear reviews are a great way to cure stomach bugs hint hint**


	9. Mercy, Mercy

**A/N: Here's the new chapter guys, I don't like it that much, but you I hope you all enjoy it and don't hate me!  
**

It was the night of the last day of Spring Break and Gabriella was slipping her flannelette pajama bottoms on where there was a rap on the door.

"Come in, Troy." Gabriella called out, turning to face her boyfriend of five days. "Hey you."

"Hey yourself." Troy said as he walked over to Gabriella, his hands slipping around her slender waist as he approached her. He kissed her sweetly on the cheek. "How do you look so sexy in flannelette pajamas?" He whispered in her ear.

"Maybe it's because you can sense I'm wearing nothing underneath them?" Gabriella asked with a smirk, holding in her giggles as Troy's mouth literally dropped.

"Nothing. Underneath." Troy repeated, stepping back slightly to let his eyes wander over Gabriella's body, coming to rest on her face where it was evident she had been lying.

"Oh that was so worth it!" Gabriella burst out laughing.

"You're gunna pay, babe." Troy teased, stepping towards Gabriella as she copied his steps, walking backwards until she was pressed up against the wall behind her.

"Yeah?" Gabriella asked as Troy pressed himself up against her, his hands moving to hold her waist once more.

"Yeah." Troy replied before scooping Gabriella into his arms and carrying her over to the bed where he dropped her gently before turning away. "I'm not gunna stay with you while you fall asleep."

"Troy! You said you'd stay until I fell asleep." Gabriella said with a pout, watching as her boyfriend walked away from her.

Gabriella's Mom had been called away on business earlier that day and so Gabriella was staying with the Bolton's for a week or so. She and Troy weren't allowed to share Troy's bed like they would've a few months earlier, but Troy had promised her earlier that day that he'd stay in her bed until she fell asleep. Knowing that Gabriella often woke up early after nightmares he'd also told her that if she woke up during the night to either go to his bedroom which was next door to her own, or to ring his cell phone and he'd come to her.

"You're were being nice to me when I said that." Troy replied, putting his hand on the doorknob before he turned around to look at Gabriella.

Her pout melted his heart and he quickly returned to the bed.

"So you're gunna stay?" Gabriella asked with hope filling her voice.

"Of course. I can't resist that little pout." He teased. "Come on you, get into bed."

Gabriella quickly got under the covers and Troy followed, pressing his front against her back as they settled comfortably.

"You ready for school tomorrow?" Troy asked and Gabriella shrugged.

Troy knew that school was the hardest place for Gabriella to be because everyone knew about the rape and a lot of people judged her because of it, even though it happened several months ago.

"I've loved this past week with not having to be at school. It's made one less thing I have to be nervous about." Gabriella admitted as Troy slid his hand from her hip underneath her pajama top to caress her stomach gently, knowing it would calm her.

"It's summer in two months, baby." Troy reminded her. "That means three months of calmness and your totally awesome boyfriend."

Gabriella giggled at Troy's cockiness and snuggled deeper into his body, feeling his hands rub her stomach softly, causing her to yawn as her whole body relaxed.

"Your so conceited, Superstar." Gabriella giggled.

"And you use big words even when you're sleepy, Bee." Troy teased.

"Mm, I'm sleepy." Gabriella confirmed as she combated another yawn.

"Go to sleep, baby." Troy whispered as he moved his free hand to play with Gabriella's curls, knowing that mixed with him rubbing her stomach, she'd fall to sleep easily.

Within a few minutes Gabriella's body was completely relaxed against Troy's and her breathing was shallow and even, telling Troy that she had fallen asleep.

Troy untangled himself from Gabriella's body, chuckling softly when she moved into the space he'd just occupied as he slipped out of the bed.

Gabriella snuggled into the warmth that Troy's body had created and Troy lent down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead as he pulled the blankets up to cover her body properly.

He watched her for a few seconds before he left the room to go to sleep himself, knowing he'd probably be awoken by her at some point during the night.

BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW. BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW.

Gabriella awoke with a start just before 3am. Her body was covered in perspiration and she was breathing heavily as the details of her nightmare flooded back into her head.

She'd dreamt she was in the forest, the darkness making it hard for her to see the things around her and so she didn't see Brian lurking behind a tree. He'd grabbed her from behind and proceeded to stab at her before raping her, despite the fact that she was bleeding heavily.

Gabriella quickly got out of her bed, feeling the cold of the night air hit her as she made her way out of the bedroom and into the hallway, the darkness frightening her than she already was.

Gabriella entered Troy's bedroom, hurrying over to his bed and slipping under the covers before she let the tears start to fall.

Troy woke up with the feel of Gabriella's tears running down his bare chest and her body trembling with sobs against his own.

"Bee?" He asked softly as he blinked in the dark room, unable to see his upset girlfriend.

Troy reached over to his bedside table and switched on the red lamp that was upon it, brightening up the room enough so that he could see his girlfriend.

"Baby? Did you have a nightmare?" He asked again, pulling her onto his body and rubbing her back as she continued to cry.

"It was dark, Troy." Gabriella sobbed and Troy felt his own tears start to well at the thought of the pain the girl he loved was going through.

"I'm here, Bee. I won't let anything get you." Troy soothed, tangling his hands in the curls that adorned Gabriella's head.

He continued to sooth Gabriella until her sobs ceased and her breathing returned to normal.

Gabriella pushed herself up slightly so she could look at Troy and she noticed the dried tear mark down his right cheek where he'd let a stray tear escape his eyes.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, kissing his cheek gently.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this." Tory whispered back, locking his eyes with Gabriella's deep brown ones. "Sleep here?" Troy asked.

Gabriella nodded and rolled off Troy so she could get comfortable.

She ended up much like she did the first night they'd slept together as a couple only a few days earlier, with her body half on Troy's, and Troy waited until he was sure she was in a deep sleep before he let his own eyes close and sleep take over his body once more.

BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW. BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW.

Rebecca Bolton went upstairs to wake up Troy and Gabriella for their first day back at school. She first went into Gabriella's room and found her bed empty and assumed the young girl was already up and so she went to wake up her son.

Rebecca entered Troy's room and she smiled instantly at the sight of Troy and Gabriella cuddled up in bed together, Troy holding Gabriella tightly, protecting her even as they slept.

Rebecca gently shook Troy's shoulder until he woke up.

"Mom?" Troy asked as he blinked the sleep away from his vision.

"It's time to get up for school." Rebecca said quietly. "Wake Gabriella up and I'll go downstairs and get breakfast ready."

"Okay." Troy said as he yawned widely and waited for his Mom to leave the room before he turned his attention to the sleeping girl in his arms.

"Bee." He whispered gently in her ear. Gabriella squirmed in his arms and shook her head gently.

"No." Gabriella whined, burying her face in Troy's chest.

"We gotta get up for school, sweetheart." Troy whispered again and Gabriella groaned before rolling onto her back and opening her eyes.

"I hate mornings." She muttered and Troy laughed.

"In that case, I'll have the bathroom first and you can stay in the warm bed until I'm done?" Troy offered and Gabriella nodded happily.

Troy kissed her gently before getting out of the bed and quickly got some clothes before heading to the bathroom to have his shower.

Gabriella snuggled under the covers of Troy's bed for a few minutes before getting up and heading to her own room to get some clothes out of her suitcase. She selected a red sundress, a white cardigan and a pair of white flats, gathered her clothes up and headed back to Troy's bedroom to wait for him to finish in the bathroom.

Troy finally emerged, dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and a red t-shirt with "Wildcats" written across it in white writing.

"I'll meet you downstairs?" Troy asked and Gabriella nodded, reaching up to press her lips against his own. "Mom's cooking us breakfast so don't spend too long in the bathroom." Troy teased, earning himself a swat on the arm from Troy.

"You take just as long as me to get ready!" Gabriella giggled as she walked past Troy to the bathroom, flashing him a smile before she closed the door, leaving Troy to head downstairs to wait for breakfast.

"Morning Mom, Dad." Troy greeted as he entered the kitchen and sat down at the small table.

"Morning son." Jack greeted, and Troy was relieved to find his Dad's moods were improving lately.

"Good morning Troy. Care to explain the girl in your bed this morning?" Rebecca asked from in front of the stove where she was making French toast.

"She had a nightmare, Mom. I swear she started the night in her own bedroom!" Troy defended himself.

"Okay, that's a fair reason." Rebecca replied, knowing she could trust Troy and Gabriella and making a mental note to talk to Jack later about the two sharing a bedroom.

"Thanks, Mom." Troy said with a smile as he relaxed in his chair and waited for Gabriella to enter the room.

Ten minutes later and just as the French toast was being placed on the table Gabriella entered the room.

"Morning, sweetie." Rebecca greeted.

"Morning, Gabi." Jack said as he looked up from his paper.

"Morning Rebecca, morning Jack." Gabriella replied as she sat down in the chair next to Troy, lacing their fingers together as he took hold of her hand.

"Eat up, guys." Rebecca announced, sitting down in the last chair at the small table and gesturing to the plate.

Gabriella giggled as Jack and Troy quickly filled up their plates and started eating and Troy shot her a smile that made her own smile grow even wider.

_Maybe school won't be so bad today._ Gabriella thought to herself. _After all, I have Troy by my side._

"Come on, Brie." Troy said, disturbing Gabriella from her thoughts as he stood up from the table. "We'll be late to school if you can't stop ya day dreaming." He teased.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she stood up as well, collecting both her and Troy's plates and taking them to the sink.

"Thanks for breakfast, Rebecca." Gabriella said with a smile as she turned to join Troy who was leaving the kitchen.

"You're always welcome, Gabi." Rebecca replied, smiling as Gabriella playfully pushed Troy out of the kitchen and the pair headed upstairs to get their stuff for school.

"Jack?" Rebecca asked, sitting down on her husband's lap.

"Yeah?" Jack asked, wrapping his arms around Rebecca's waist.

"Do you think we should let Gabi sleep in Troy's bedroom? Maria said she has nightmares almost every night, and maybe she'll feel safer in his room instead of alone in a bed that isn't even her own?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Jack said with a small nod. "Just ask Maria before you tell the kids?"

Rebecca nodded in response before drawing her lips to meet Jack's.

"Eww." Troy called out from the kitchen door where he and Gabriella were waiting to tell his parents they were leaving for school.

"Troy!" Gabriella swatted her boyfriend's arm as Rebecca and Jack sheepishly broke apart and looked at the teens who wore identical smiles.

"Go to school you two." Jack teased as Rebecca got up and started to load the dishwasher.

The four called out their goodbyes and Troy and Gabriella left the house hand in hand to face East High for the first time as a couple.

BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW. BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW.

"I'll see you at lunch?" Troy asked quietly as he looked down into Gabriella's chocolate eyes which were currently sparkling after their small make out session.

Gabriella had her back against her locker and Troy as standing in front of her, one of his hands on her hip and the other gently rubbing her cheek as he spoke.

"Lunch." Gabriella breathed, a smile spreading across her face as Troy lent back down to cover her lips with his own. "Come on Superstar, we'll be late to class." Gabriella giggled.

Troy pulled away and took a step away from Gabriella, a smirk playing across his lips as he watched her straighten out her clothes before starting to walk down the corridor, away from Troy.

Troy headed off in the opposite direction from his girlfriend, turning around every few seconds to watch her retreating form down the long corridor. Troy turned back around to look at her one last time before he turned the corner and found she was gone from his sight, when she shouldn't have been. Troy quickly turned around fully, his eyes scanning the hallway but not finding any sign of the dark haired girl. He started to quickly walk the way Gabriella had gone in, his stomach starting to twist and his breathing speeding up as he wondered where she could've gone.

_With Gabriella._

Gabriella tried to scream as a hand covered her mouth and pulled her quickly into a dark classroom. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw the smirking faces of Drake Fahey and James Mills, two of Brian's friends.

Drake was holding her, her back pressed against his chest as his hand pressed firmly against her mouth.

"So Bolton still wants you even after you were used and abused? Will he want you after you've been used two more times?" James sneered and Gabriella felt like she was going to throw up.

All the memories of the night with Brian came flooding back to her as James took a menacing step towards Gabriella and she kicked out her right leg, connecting with James's left shin.

James leapt backwards in pain.

"You fucking bitch. You're gunna wish you'd never done that." James threatened.

Gabriella watched him, trying to keep the fear out of her eyes as she quickly stomped down on Drake's foot, causing him to push her away from him and she hit the back of her head on the corner of a nearby desk as she lost her balance and toppled backwards.

As Gabriella's body thumped to the floor the door to the classroom swung open and Troy rushed in, having heard the commotion as he passed by on his search for Gabriella.

"Brie!" He shouted, rushing to her side before he saw Drake and James standing a small distance away.

Troy sped towards James, giving him one swift punch to the jaw and sending him toppling to the floor. Drake quickly maneuvered his way around Troy and fled the classroom, leaving Troy to go back to Gabriella.

Gabriella was crying heavily as blood started to make a small puddle around her head. Troy took off his shirt and bunched it up, lifting Gabriella's head and pressing the t-shirt against her wound, stemming the blood.

"Baby, I'm gunna take you to my Dad, okay?" Troy asked as he picked Gabriella up in his arms, letting her head rest against his now bare chest as the tears started up again.

Troy quickly carried her out of the classroom and down the hallway to the gym where he hurried into the boy's locker room and down to his Dad's office, glad there wasn't a class in the gym at that moment.

Troy burst through the open door of Jack's office and Jack looked up to see the pair, his mouth dropping open at the sight of a bleeding Gabriella in the arms of his shirtless and pale son.

"Wha.. how.. Troy?" Jack stammered, running from his desk to the doorway where Troy stood motionless.

"Drake Fahey and James Mills." Troy said, his voice shaking. "I didn't see it. I just came in the room and Gabriella was bleeding on the floor."

"She needs to go to the hospital, Troy." Jack said, trying to think rationally as he herded Troy out of the small office and back through the locker rooms. When they arrived back in the gym Jack spoke again.

"Do you want me to carry her, son?" Troy shook his head quickly, not wanting to let go of Gabriella. Jack whipped out his cell phone, dialing for an ambulance as he escorted Troy and Gabriella to Principal Matsui's office at the front of the school where it would be easiest for the paramedics to find them.

Troy looked down at Gabriella as they rushed through the hallways, her face was significantly more pale than normal and contrasted with her dark curls that fell over the side of Troy's arm. As if feeling his gaze on her Gabriella opened her eyes slowly, her dark brown orbs meeting with Troy's worried blue ones.

"I'll be okay if you stay with me, superstar." She whispered gently.

**A/N: Don't forget those reviews, and check out my latest story Body Flow, the trailer's up now, and first chapter out today!**


	10. Fight Like A Brave

Gabriella had been released from the hospital two hours with a cut to her head that required 3 stitches and a nasty concussion

**Okay, here's the new chapter guys! It's a bit of Troyella fluff, and some slight dramas, but nothing our couple can't handle! I got 11 reviews for the last chapter, the most for a chapter for this story, my most ever is 21, so try to help me create a new record, I dare ya!**

Gabriella had been released from the hospital two hours with a cut to her head that required 3 stitches and a nasty concussion and she was currently asleep in Troy's bed in Troy's arms.

"Dinner's going to be ready in about half an hour, Troy, do you want to wake Gabi?" Rebecca Bolton asked from the doorway of Troy's bedroom.

"Yeah, cause she hasn't eaten since lunch, and that was almost 7 hours ago." Troy replied, giving his Mom a weak smile.

"Your Dad and me talked, and we decided that Gabi can sleep in your bed with you if she wants. We think she'll feel safer." Rebecca smiled as she looked at how peaceful Gabriella looked at that moment, despite the day's earlier activities.

"Thanks Mom." Troy said with a grin as Rebecca nodded and left, shutting the door closed behind her.

Troy decided it was time to wake up Gabriella so she had time to properly wake up before she had something to eat.

"Brie?" He whispered gently, shaking Gabriella's shoulder lightly.

"Mmm?" Gabriella moaned gently, burying herself deeper into Troy's chest.

Troy laughed at how cute his girlfriend was being. "Gabriella, baby, you gotta wake up for dinner." He whispered in Gabriella's ear, his breath tickling her skin and she shivered in Troy's arms.

"Dinner?" Gabriella asked gently as she opened her eyes, blinking a few times as her vision became clear.

"I think Mom was making chicken and salad." Troy said softly, rubbing Gabriella's back as she slowly started to wake up properly.

"What's the time?" Gabriella asked through a yawn.

"Almost seven." Troy replied, laughing softly as Gabriella buried herself back in his chest.

"My head hurts." She pouted.

"I'll go get some Tylenol?" Troy asked and Gabriella nodded, but as Troy went to get off the bed she grabbed at his arm.

"Don't leave." She begged, tears filling up in her eyes. Troy immediately sat back down, letting Gabriella scramble into her arms, bury her head in the space between his neck and shoulder and cry as he soothed her.

A short while later Rebecca came back up to tell the teens it was time for dinner and she found Gabriella curled up in Troy's lap, playing with his hair as they sat in silence.

Troy looked up and Rebecca mouthed "dinner" and Troy nodded.

Rebecca quickly left the room and Troy shifted his girlfriend in his arms so she was sitting up a little more.

"You wanna go have some dinner, baby?" He asked softly, tilting Gabriella's chin up so she was looking at him.

"Okay." Gabriella said softly, reaching her lips up to meet with Troy's in a sweet kiss.

"Let's go then." Troy smiled, helping Gabriella off the bed and wrapping his arm around her waist before they went downstairs.

Once Gabriella was seated at the table Troy disappeared for a few seconds, reappearing with a glass of water and two Tylenol for Gabriella's headache.

"Thanks." Gabriella smiled, downing the pills and the water before she started her dinner, the Bolton's watching her carefully, trying to gauge how this whole incident had effected her.

Gabriella spoke to all three Bolton's throughout dinner, smiling a couple of times, and even offering to help Troy load the dishwasher.

Once they were alone Troy lifted Gabriella up onto the counter, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair, causing Gabriella to giggle.

"Are you okay, you know? Considering." Tory asked softly.

"I'm not going to let this bother me." Gabriella said boldly.

"You know I'm here if you wanna talk, right?" Troy moved his hands to her hips, sliding her forward towards him.

"That's why I'm not letting it bother me. I have you, and I don't want to go back into my withdrawn self and end up letting us both get hurt." Gabriella whispered feeling Troy's arms wrap her in a tight hug.

"Does this mean we're still trying out for the musical?" Troy teased and Gabriella nodded furiously.

"You're not getting out of this one, superstar." She giggled.

"I'm totally whipped." Troy whined as he lifted Gabriella off the counter. "Come on, let's get the kitchen cleaned up and we can go watch a movie so you can rest some more."

BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW. BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW.

"But Troy, I don't want to stay home tomorrow." Gabriella whined.

"It's the doctor's orders, Brie." Troy tried to reason. "You need some more time to rest, you got a pretty bad concussion."

"But you won't be here." Gabriella pouted as she turned away from Troy.

"Gab, don't blame me, please. I love having you by my side, but you getting better is more important."

"Fine. But I'm going to miss you." Gabriella rolled back over to face Troy, seeing a small smile playing on his lips at her confession.

"You're adorable." Troy said softly, wrapping his arms around Gabriella. "And you're all mine."

Gabriella yawned through her giggles and Troy pulled her body closer to his.

"Do you need any more Tylenol?" He asked as he started to gently play with Gabriella's curls, causing her to close her eyes as she started to relax in Troy's embrace.

"I think I'll be okay." Gabriella murmured, her fingers playing lightly with the hem of Troy's shirt.

"Do you want me to take you to your bedroom?" Troy asked softly as Gabriella slipped her hand up under his shirt so she could rest her hand on his toned stomach.

'I wanna be here with you." Gabriella mumbled sleepily.

"Wake me up if you need anything in the night, okay?" Troy asked softly, and Gabriella barely nodded, already slipping into sleep as the day's events caught back up to her.

Once she was asleep Troy slipped off her pants and hoody, leaving her just in a t-shirt of his that she'd borrowed, and her underwear.

Troy covered her with the blankets and hurried downstairs to grab a bottle of water, some Tylenol and to say good night to his parents.

"Brie's asleep so I'm going to bed too." Troy said from the doorway of the living room where his parents were sitting watching tv.

"Okay, night son." Jack said, shooting his son a small smile.

"Good night, sweetie." Rebecca said, looking up from the tv and smiling at Troy.

Both of Troy's parents were so proud of Troy for the way he'd stuck by his best friend – and now girlfriend – throughout the last few months and they were glad to see that Gabriella seemed to be drawing strength from Troy after this latest attack. But both were worried about the girl who was just like a daughter to the pair of them, and they wanted what was best for her.

"Is Gabriella okay with sharing a bed with you tonight, Troy?" Rebecca asked, trying to keep the worried tone out of her question.

"She wants to. I asked her. She said she wanted to be with me." Troy confirmed. "I gotta go back upstairs, Mom. She'll probably freak if she wakes up alone."

"Come and get me or your Dad if you need to in the night, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks." Troy said with a small smile, desperate to get back upstairs to his girlfriend, needing to hold her in his arms, to see her there with him.

With a last goodnight from his parents Troy shot up the stairs, taking off his t-shirt as he headed down the hallway to his bedroom and stepping out of his jeans as soon as he was in his room, leaving him in just his boxers.

Troy placed the bottle of water and the Tylenol on his bedside table before he climbed under the covers, pressing his body against Gabriella's. Gabriella twisted in his arms, laying her head on Troy's chest and hooking her left leg over his own, which seemed to be her favourite way to sleep when she shared a sleeping space with Troy.

Troy lay in the darkened room for what felt like hours, just stroking Gabriella's hair and listening to her breathe, the realization that he'd could've lost her twice now sinking in and making him feel sick to his stomach.

Troy pulled Gabriella closer to him, tightening his grip around her waist, not wanting to ever let her go. A tear ran down his cheek as Gabriella slipped her hand down against her soft fingernails sending shivers down his spine as her hand slipped across his abdomen.

"I love you Gabriella." He whispered into the darkened room, reaching his lips down to kiss the soft curls on her head before he closed his eyes and willed his body to go to sleep.

BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW. BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW.

Four hours later and Troy was still awake, unable to turn off his brain, thoughts of losing Gabriella running through his mind at top speed. He saw images of Gabriella lying, broken and bleeding on his doorstep after Brian dumped her there, of Gabriella crying in his arms, time and time again, but mostly he saw images of her, silenced by the whole ordeal, slowly falling apart, breaking both their hearts.

Suddenly Gabriella's body started to shudder against his own, and her soft whimpers seemed to fill the room. Troy pulled her back against him, rubbing circles on the small of her back as the tears flowed, dripping onto Troy's bare chest.

"Shh, Brie." Troy whispered into Gabriella's ear, but Gabriella only seemed to get more upset and she started thrashing against Troy.

Troy moved Gabriella off his body, letting her lay next to him, breaking their body contact which Troy hoped would calm her down, incase she was remembering being held by one of her attackers. Troy watched his girlfriend writhe on the bed, her face contorted in fear.

"Stop. Please don't." Gabriella sobbed, swinging her arms out in front of her and hitting Troy square in the eye. Troy winced from the contact of her fist hitting him, but the pain only registered for a second before Troy pinned Gabriella's arms to the bed, letting her body thrash about on the bed but stopping her arms from hitting into him again. Troy wondered if he should go and wake his parents, but he didn't want to leave Gabriella alone in her state, and his parents bedroom was down the other end of the hallway.

After fifteen or so minutes Gabriella's body went completely still and a small sigh escaped from her mouth before her whole body relaxed and silence fell over the room.

Troy sat watching his girlfriend, her breathing had returned to normal and her face looked peaceful as she slept once more. A few minutes later Troy let himself lay back down, laying on his side so he could watch Gabriella until he fell asleep. The last time he looked at the illuminated numbers on his alarm clock it was 4.47am.

BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW. BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW.

"Troy. You'll be late for school if you don't get up." Rebecca said, gently shaking her son awake as she spoke.

Troy rolled over, away from his mom and towards Gabriella, pulling her back into his arms as Rebecca watched, a grin playing on her lips.

"Troy." Rebecca spoke again, her voice louder this time.

Finally Troy opened his eyes, searching for the voice that woke him from his sleep. When he saw his Mom he blinked several times.

"What happened to your eye, Troy?" Rebecca asked worriedly, taking in the bruise around Troy's right eye.

"Gabriella accidentally hit me last night. She was having a nightmare and lashed out." Troy explained, the events that led him to have just over an hour of sleep all coming back to him.

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"An hour? I couldn't stop thinking about losing her, then she had the nightmare and I was too scared to go back to sleep." Troy confessed.

"Aw, honey." Rebecca brushed Troy's hair off his face as she took in the dark circles under his eyes, and how the whites of his eyes were completely bloodshot. "You're staying home today."

"I'm too tired to argue with you." Troy said with a yawn as he lay back down, Gabriella moving in her sleep so she was perfectly aligned with his body.

"I can see that. I have some errands to run this morning, but I'll bring home something for lunch, okay?" Rebecca said as she started to exit the room.

"Okay, thanks Mom." Troy said, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around Gabriella.

"I'll get your Dad to explain why you and Gabi aren't at school. I'm sure they'll understand." Rebecca said before she closed the bedroom door, leaving the teenagers to sleep in peace.

BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW. BTW.BTW.BTW.BTW.

Gabriella woke up quite a few hours later, the feel of Troy snuggled into her back drew a soft smile across her face as she turned slightly in his arms so she was laying on her back, looking up at him.

Her brow furrowed as she saw the dark purple mark surrounding Troy's eye and her hand instantly reached out to touch it, sending waves of pain through Troy, causing him to wake up with a start.

"Fuck!" Troy cried out, bringing his hand up to grab Gabriella's hand as his eyes focused on her and the worried expression that was on her face.

"What happened to your eye, superstar?" She asked gently.

Troy moved his gaze away from Gabriella's and the hand that wasn't holding onto hers slowly rubbed the back of his neck.

"You had a nightmare and lashed out at me." Tory said gently and Gabriella gasped in shock.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, tears filling her eyes.

"It's okay, you didn't know what you were doing." Troy reasoned, taking Gabriella's face in his hands and gently caressing her cheeks with his thumbs.

"Wait, why aren't you at school?" Gabriella asked. As Troy lowered his gaze again she instantly knew. "I kept you awake, didn't I?"

"Not really. I was just freaking out about everything, and then you had the nightmare, and I didn't want to go to sleep after that." Troy explained. "You're worth a sleepless night anytime, Bee."

"I love you." Gabriella whispered. "How did I get so lucky?"

"I love you too." Troy whispered back. "And I'm the lucky one, cause I have you."

The pair lay in silence, smiling at one another as their hands roamed. Troy's played with Gabriella's curls and Gabriella's ended up on Troy's stomach, outlining his defined muscles.

"Did you and Kelsi decide on what song we're doing for the auditions?" Troy asked after a few minutes.

"We did. I have the music in my bag." Gabriella confessed with a giggle.

"Sneaky little thing aren't you?" Troy teased.

"You wanna listen to it?" Gabriella asked slyly, knowing Troy would give her whatever she wanted.

"Go and put it on." Troy laughed, giving Gabriella a gentle nudge.

"I love you." Gabriella sung as she sat up to get out of bed.

Her face immediately paled and she moved her right hand to cover her mouth before she ran from Troy's bed and into his bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time to be sick.

Troy was right behind her and he swept her dark curls back, holding them out of the way with one hand while he other hand rubbed Gabriella's back as she heaved.

Once Troy was sure Gabriella was finished he went to the sink and wet a face cloth so she could wipe her mouth and darted back into the bedroom to grab the bottle of water he'd gotten the night before.

Troy let Gabriella clean herself up before he offered her the water and she gratefully rinsed her mouth out and then with Troy holding her up she brushed her teeth. Troy led her back to the bedroom, helping her slide into bed before he slid in after her, wrapping her in his arms as she let the tears flow.

"I feel horrible." She sobbed and Troy felt his heart drop.

"Come on, Bee. Let's try to get some more sleep." Troy coaxed, his right hand moving down to draw gently circles on her stomach.

"I'm gunna be sick." Gabriella suddenly cried out, scrambling out the bed and rushing back to the bathroom with Troy hot on her heels.

Once again Troy held her hair as she threw up, his own stomach churning at the smell that filled the bathroom, but his need to be with her overpowering it and allowing him to handle the smell.

After Gabriella was done Troy lent her up against the wall, so she was sitting with some support and he wet another wash cloth and grabbed the half empty bottle of water from next to the sink.

Troy gently wiped Gabriella's mouth with the warm facecloth before he tossed it over his shoulder in the direction of the laundry basket before he helped her rinse her mouth with the water.

When Gabriella was once again cleaned up and her mouth rinsed Troy sat down next to her on the cold bathroom floor and pulled Gabriella onto his lap, letting her curl up like a baby as he wrapped his arms around her, lacing their fingers together.

Fifteen minutes later and Gabriella was fast asleep and Troy managed to stand up, keeping her wrapped in his arms so he could carry her back to bed without disturbing her. Troy set her down on the bed and pulled the covers over her body, watching as she uncurled herself and got comfortable in her new spot.

After a few minutes Troy was sure Gabriella was going to sleep for some time and he went to his computer and started it up, deciding to check his emails which he hadn't done in a few days.

Troy found he had a new email from his cousin Matthew in England, and so he read through Matthew's email and then wrote a reply, glad of the wonders of technology that allowed him to keep in touch with someone halfway around the world.

Twenty minutes and Troy was finished and wondered what he could do while Gabriella slept, not wanting to leave her alone incase she had a nightmare or needed to be sick again.

Suddenly Troy remembered the music that was in Gabriella's bag and he quickly got up and headed over to the other side of his room where Gabriella's school bag lay. Troy found the cd and a sheet of lyrics after a few seconds of searching and he took both back to his computer, inserting the cd into his drive and putting on his headphones.

As the music started up Troy's eyes followed the lyrics on the piece of paper, wondering what they'd sound like sung by Gabriella and himself instead of Kelsi.

**A/N: So there it is, I wonder what song they're going to singing? And can Gabriella handle the audition?**

**To my readers of Body Flow, a new chapter will be out at some point tomorrow!**


	11. I Feel Love

**A/N: Okay, here's a short little fluff chapter for you all with a little bit of sexytime! I know it's nothing great, but I've been working super long hours (50 - 60 a week) and so I've had no time to write, and when I actually have had time I haven't been in the mood! So thanks for all your reviews and continue to give them to me cause I really love getting them!**

"You wanna go downstairs and watch tv, Bee?" Troy asked Gabriella gently, his hands gently playing with her curls as they lay cuddled up together in bed.

"Shower first?" Gabriella asked, her fingers continuing to draw lazy circles on Troy's stomach as she spoke. "I'm sure I stink."

"Yeah, you smell pretty bad, Montez." Troy teased, laughing as Gabriella's hand stilled on his stomach and she raised her head to meet Troy's gaze.

"I was gunna invite you to join me, but now I'll shower alone." Gabriella said with a shrug.

"Really?" Troy asked, his eyes widening.

"No, but it was funny to see your reaction." Gabriella giggled.

"You are so dead." Troy said, shaking his head as he pulled Gabriella onto him, wrapping his arms tightly around her body and raising his lips to meet her.

Gabriella kissed him back for a few minutes, but when Troy brushed his tongue along her bottom lip she pulled away, kissing his neck a few times before removing herself from his embrace and rolling onto her back next to him.

"We need to shower." She started, and when Troy started to smirk Gabriella spoke again.  
"Seperately."

"Spoil sport." Troy pouted gently, causing Gabriella to giggle.

"Aww, superstar. I love you." She said cuddling into his side.

"I love you too." Troy answered matter of factly. "Come on, I'll help you into the bathroom, we don't need you getting nauseas again."

Troy got out of bed and went around to the other side, steadying Gabriella as she stood up.

"Ready?" He asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Troy, I'm not crippled, just a little dizzy." Gabriella protested, even though she loved the way Troy was taking care of her with such love and dedication.

"Hush you." Troy teased as they entered the bathroom and Troy let Gabriella lean against the wall by the shower as he turned the water on.

Troy turned back to Gabriella with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"You need help getting undressed too?" He asked cockily and Gabriella rolled her eyes, taking a few shaky steps so she was standing in front of Troy.

"Go shower, Bolton." She demanded playfully. "I'll meet you downstairs in half an hour."

"As you wish my love." Troy said, kissing her gently. "But seriously call me if you need anything okay?"

"I promise." Gabriella said softly, giving him a gentle push towards the door. "Off with you."

Troy headed out the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and heading to his parents bedroom to shower, leaving Gabriella alone for the first time since the attack.

Gabriella slowly undressed, not wanting to make herself too dizzy incase she was sick again. Once she was full undressed she stepped under the hot water, letting it flow over her body and warm her instantly. She stood under the water for a few minutes, simply letting it wash over her before she reached for the body wash and lathered her body up and then rinsed it off before washing her dark curls with the strawberry shampoo, knowing it was Troy's favourite shampoo.

After all the soap and shampoo was free from Gabriella's body she turned off the water and stepped out the shower, wrapping a towel around her body before drying her hair with another towel until the curls were damp.

Gabriella hoped Troy wasn't in his bedroom because she needed to go in there to get her clean clothes, knowing her bag with all her stuff was in there still because she forgot to grab it on the way to the shower.

She quickly slipped on her underwear followed by a pair of black sweatpants and a white singlet which both hugged her curves.

Gabriella found her brush and detangled her curls before putting her laundry in the basket and heading downstairs to wait for Troy.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

Forty minutes later Troy and Gabriella were freshly showered and cuddled in on the couch with Gabriella in Troy's lap, their hands wandering over one another gently as they shared sweet kisses.

"Mm, Troy." Gabriella moaned gently as Troy's lips found their way to her neck.

At hi girlfriend's response to his kissing Troy gently twisted their bodies until they were laying on the couch, Gabriella on her back and Troy on his side next to her.

Troy gently leant over Gabriella, kissing her fully on the lips, his tongue gently probing her lips until she granted him entrance, letting their tongues explore each other's mouth, dancing together as things became more heated.

Gabriella caught Troy's leg between her own, and her hands on his back pulled him down until he was almost laying fully on top of her, his hardening member poking her in the stomach as she pulled him closer.

Troy moved his hand to Gabriella's stomach to stabilize himself, not wanting to crush Gabriella with his weight, but he soon found his hand wandering north until it came to rest on her breast which was covered by a thin white singlet top.

"Troy." Gabriella moaned and it took Troy a second to realise that she wasn't stopping him, and he wondered if he should remove his hand, not wanting to rush her into anything she wasn't comfortable with.

But Gabriella answered his question for him, bringing one of her hands down to cover his, keeping it where it was as their lips detached and she was able to look him in the eye, blue meeting brown as Gabriella let a smile cross her face and she nodded gently to Troy, letting him know it was okay.

Troy let his thumb graze over her covered nipple and Gabriella quickly reattached their lips, her tongue trailing through his mouth, tasting every bit she could reach in a kiss more passionate than they had ever shared before.

Soon Troy was shirtless and Gabriella's hands were tracing over the defined muscles on his chest, her fingers outlining them as their mouths fought against one another yet again, their tongues dancing the ever familiar dance.

Troy moved his hand down Gabriella's body, slipping underneath her singlet top and then traveling back up to her breast, his fingers grazing against the lace of her bra.

"Not something a Mother wants to see!" Came the amused voice of Rebecca.

Troy and Gabriella froze for a second before Troy sat up, pulling Gabriella onto his lap to hide his bulge as the pair struggled to even out their breathing.

"Uh, hi Mom." Troy stammered, his eyes locking with Gabriella's as she let out a nervous giggle.

"I take it your both feeling better?" Rebecca teased as she entered the room, watching as the teens blushed, avoiding one another's glances. "I'm kidding! There's a hot chicken and some salad stuff in the kitchen for lunch, help yourselves."

Rebecca headed upstairs to change her clothes and Troy and Gabriella stood up from the couch, bursting into laughter a few seconds later.

"That was so embarrassing!" Gabriella exclaimed as they walked to the kitchen hand-in-hand.

"It wasn't your Mom!" Troy pointed out, grabbing a plate each for him and Gabriella and he handed her one.

"But you know she's going to tell my Mom. And your Dad." Gabriella was a lot more embarrassed about this than Troy.

"So they know that we kiss n stuff, I'm sure they expect something like that Bee. I mean, they let us share a bed what do they expect!"

"True…" Gabriella said gently before taking a bite of salad.

"Plus, I don't care if my parents know I love you, in fact, I want the world to know." Troy said with a smile, causing Gabriella to smile in return.

"I love you too." Gabriella replied, reaching out to take Troy's hand in her own, their fingers instinctively lacing together.

Neither saw Rebecca as she stood in the doorway, a huge smile covering her face as she listening the conversation between her son and the girl who was like a daughter to her.

Rebecca turned quietly, not drawing attention to herself as she hurried upstairs to ring Maria and inform her of what she'd just witnessed.

**hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.hsm.**

"Hello?" Troy answered his cell phone as he lay on his bed, waiting for Gabriella to get back from the bathroom so they could start watching a movie.

"Hey Troy, it's Tay." Came the bubbly voice of Gabriella's best friend.

"Hey Tay, what's up?" Troy asked.

"How's Gabi?"

"She's actually pretty good. A little sore and nauseas but otherwise she's good." Troy explained.

"No nightmares?' Taylor asked.

"A few last night." Troy admitted.

"And how are you?" Taylor probed and Troy chuckled to himself. "You weren't at school today."

"I didn't really sleep last night, I couldn't stop thinking about losing Bee." He admitted as Gabriella returned from the bathroom and slipped onto the bed, snuggling into his side as he wrapped an arm around her before kissing her head gently.

"Ew. I can hear that, Romeo." Taylor teased. "Do you think me and Chad could stop by for a few minutes, I wanna see Gabi."

"I'll ask her, but it should be fine." Troy agreed, covering the mouthpiece on the cell phone as he turned his attention to Gabriella.

"Hey beautiful, you wanna see Taylor and Chad for a little bit?" He asked gently, not knowing he hadn't covered the mouthpiece properly and Taylor could hear every work.

"Sure." Gabriella answered, reaching up to give him a soft, lingering kiss. "I need a break from your male ways." She teased.

"Bee, begs you not to come over." Troy announced to Taylor. "She said she's going to be too busy for the next fifteen years kissing her amazingly handsome boyfriend. Hey!!"

Gabriella snatched Troy's phone from his hand, bringing it to her ear and greeting Taylor.

"Hey Tay. Ignore basketball boy. When will you guys be here?" She asked.

"About five minutes? We'll just go drop our bags at Chad's house and then be there." Taylor confirmed and Chad nodded his agreement to her as he pulled into his driveway.

"Okay, see you then. Bye!" Gabriella said happily, glad she'd be seeing her best friend in a few minutes.

"Bye, beautiful." Taylor teased causing Gabriella to blush madly as she realised Taylor had heard Troy talking to her minutes before.

**A/N: Okay, it's going to stop there, cause I'm not quite sure where I want to go after this, and it's really close to midnight and my eyes are barely open and my fingers aren't hitting the right keys!**

**So review, and I'll love you forever!**


	12. Castles Made Of Sand

Gabriella nervously looked in the mirror again, taking in her appearance and her head filled with flaws to the way she looked

**Okay, so this chapter is a long time coming, but I promise I'm back in a position where I can write now, so expect regular updates! I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to leave a review!**

Gabriella nervously looked in the mirror again, taking in her appearance and her head filled with flaws to the way she looked. Sighing loudly she moved her hands up to the ponytail she'd just pulled her hair into and started to undo the band that held it there.

"Bee, stop," came Troy's gentle voice, stilling her hands as the first curls started to drop back down. "You look gorgeous with your hair pulled back like that."

Gabriella looked up into the mirror, her darker than normal eyes meeting with Troy's bright blues, her heart skipping a beat as she took in his perfect appearance.

"I don't look… right!" She cried out tearing her hands from his and spinning around to face him, her curls falling down to frame her face and cascade down her back.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Troy comforted her, pushing a few curls off her face and behind her ear. "You look perfect, it doesn't matter what you're wearing, how much makeup you have on, and how you wear your hair."

"I don't know if I can do this, Troy," Gabriella whispered, finally confessing to Troy the one thing he'd been sure of all morning, Gabriella was afraid to go back to school.

It was Wednesday morning, two days after Gabriella had been attacked, and both Troy and Gabriella were getting ready for school.

Troy had been watching his girlfriend scrutinize herself for the past twenty minutes before he stepped in, knowing he needed to convince her that it didn't matter what she wore, he would be by her side the entire day.

"Brie, I promise either me, Chad or Taylor will be with you every second today, okay?" He said softly, placing his hands on Gabriella's hips and pulling her closer to him. "But if you need to get away from it all, you have our spot. Just go there and txt me, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Gabriella nodded tearfully, and Troy gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs, catching them as they rolled down her flushed cheeks.

"I love you, Gabriella," Troy said with a gentle smile, his heart beating faster as Gabriella raised her head so their eyes could meet, and he noticed her eyes were a few shades lighter, almost back to her normal colour.

"I love you too," Gabriella giggled, wiping away the last of her tears before she stood on her tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Come on, beautiful, let's go have some breakfast," Troy said, wrapping one arm around Gabriella's waist, leading her downstairs.

When they got downstairs they found the kitchen empty, a note taped to the refrigerator from Troy's Mom.

_Troy and Gabriella_

_I've been called into work early and your Dad had a staff meeting so you're on your own for breakfast. We'll see you both tonight._

_Have a good day at school._

_Love, Mom._

"Looks like I'm cooking this morning," Troy said as he read the note quickly.

He smirked and turned to Gabriella, taking her hand in his and lacing their fingers together, having an overwhelming need to be touching her, no matter how small the touch was.

"Really? Well in that case I'll have waffles, some strawberries, and some bacon," Gabriella teased, taking a step closer to Troy.

"How does cereal and milk sound?" Troy asked with a grin, his eyes darting between Gabriella's now sparkling eyes and her tantalizing lips.

"Perfect." Gabriella whispered against Troy's lips before starting to move her lips against Troy's, feeling him kiss her back, a slow, passion filled kiss.

The pair broke apart after a few minutes, both had flushed cheeks and were breathing heavily and they wore identical smiles.

"How about that cereal?" Troy asked, turning to the cupboard to get out two bowls as Gabriella caught her breath and tried to keep her mind on breakfast.

"Have you got froot loops?" Gabriella asked and Troy rolled his eyes.

"Gabriella Montez. Are you 17 or 7, young lady?" He mockingly scolded her, feeling her arms slip around his waist as he stood in front of the open pantry, locating the cereal she had requested.

"Seven?" Gabriella asked with a shrug. "Seventy, who cares, froot loops are the best!"

"Your wish is my command," Troy answered, producing a box of the brightly coloured cereal and handing it to her. "Milk's in the refrigerator, as per the norm."

Troy found cornflakes for himself and poured them in the bowl, followed by the milk before he carefully carried the bowl to the kitchen table, setting it down in front of the chair next to Gabriella.

"Do you want an orange juice, Bee?" He asked as he headed back to the refrigerator.

"Please." Gabriella replied with a mouth full of cereal, causing Troy to roll his eyes at her again.

Troy was so pleased that Gabriella seemed happier, her eyes had their sparkle back and her smile reached across her face once more. He just hoped her day would continue to go well, so they could get their lives back on track once more.

Fifteen minutes later and there were two empty bowls in the kitchen sink and two teenagers heading out the door, climbing into the white truck in the driveway and starting the drive to school.

Their hands were laced together once more and sitting on Troy's thigh as they drove along the busy streets.

_I don't wanna close my eyes  
I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you, babe  
And I don't wanna miss a thing  
'Cause even when I dream of you  
The sweetest dream will never do  
I'd still miss you, babe  
And I don't wanna miss a thing_

Gabriella sung along to the song on the radio, her sweet voice filling the small space and putting a smile on Troy's face, he couldn't think of anything he'd rather listen to than his girlfriend singing to fill a silence.

"Brie?" He asked as the song came to an end.

"Mm?" Gabriella asked, playing with her curls as she looked out the window.

"Are we still doing the song for the audition?" He asked nervously. He'd never admit it, but he was quite looking forward to the audition, getting to sing with Gabriella was something he enjoyed, and knowing she'd be so happy if they got the part made him determined to do his best so he could give her the happiness he knew she deserved.

"You don't have to keep calling it the song, you know it's not going to bite you if you use the name," Gabriella teased. "And yeah, we're still singing _Breaking Free_. If you want to?"

Gabriella's eyes connected with Troy's as he glanced from the road at her, noticing how she was batting her eyelids in an overly dramatic fashion.

"Of course I want to, Sharpay." Troy teased, knowing that the blonde drama queen he had referenced to was famous for her flirtatious ways to get what she wanted.

"Oh shit. Troy," Gabriella gasped as Troy pulled into the student car park of East High.

"What?" Troy asked, worry filling his tone.

"Sharpay is going to kill me if I audition," Gabriella said worriedly. "You know her and Ryan are the leads of every school play. Maybe we shouldn't audition."

"Who cares? Sharpay needs to get off her high horse and realise there are better people out there than her, you being the top one on my list." Troy responded as he cut off the engine and turned to face his girlfriend.

"But she's going to make my life a living hell if we win. We probably won't even win, I bet we'll suck and everyone will just laugh at us." Gabriella rambled.

"Are you saying I can't sing, Miss Montez?" Troy asked, feigning shock.

"I mean. You'll do good. But I won't. Everyone will laugh at me. They'll wonder why you have such a bad singing partner…" Gabriella carried on her rambling until Troy's lips crashed down on her own.

Gabriella's thoughts of Sharpay were immediately gone when she felt Troy's lips against her own, kissing her hard and urgently, his tongue probing her lips open and dipping inside, tasting every inch of her mouth as she scrambled across the seats to sit in his lap, both forgetting they were at school until the warning bell sounded out across the grounds and they hurriedly broke the kiss.

Troy looked up at his flustered girlfriend, her cheeks bright red, her lips slightly swollen and he couldn't help but press his lips to hers once, twice, three times more.

"Let's go learn!" He joked as Gabriella struggled to regulate her breathing.

"Let's," Gabriella replied less enthusiastically as she slid out of the truck, allowing Troy to follow her, each slinging a backpack over their shoulders as they instinctively found one another's hands, their fingers lacing together perfectly as they walked the short distance from the carpark to the hallways of East High, stopping first at Troy's locker, then heading to Gabriella's locker where Chad and Taylor were waiting for them.

"Hey Gabs, hey Troy!" Came Chad's greeting, pulling Gabriella into a quick hug before slapping hands with Troy.

Taylor, Troy and Gabriella shared greetings as the boys waited for their girlfriends to finish getting their books from their lockers.

"Practice in free period today?" Chad asked Troy and Troy immediately looked up at Gabriella.

He'd forgotten that he'd have basketball practice in free period today and he was suddenly worried about what Gabriella would do for that time.

"Me and Gabriella will go to the library?" Taylor offered, as if she had read Troy's mind.

"Is that okay with you, Bee?" Troy asked, slipping his arm around Gabriella's waist as she finished in her locker and closed it with a soft bang.

"That's fine with me, I need to catch up on yesterday's notes and I don't really want to see you getting all sweaty and stuff." Gabriella wrinkled her nose in a way that Troy found adorable and he smiled down at her.

"Okay, you will be safe with Tay, everyone's scared of her," Troy teased, receiving a light slap from the darker girl as the four headed down the emptying halls to their homeroom, all four laughing and joking together, forgetting their worries.

--

Gabriella walked out of her science class with Taylor as they made their way to the lunchroom. It seemed that today would be a normal day, Gabriella hadn't heard anyone talking about what happened so maybe nobody knew. This thought made her sigh in relief.

"What was that about?" Taylor asking with a raised eyebrow.

Gabriella quickly caught herself and blushed, "Nothing."

"Aww are you thinking about lunkhead lover boy?" She asked knocking Gabriella in the hip jokingly.

Gabriella smiled, "Mhmm you know it." They busted out laughing at Gabriella's comment as they walked into the lunchroom. They made a beeline for their normal table where Troy and Chad were already at.

Troy turned around at the sound of Gabriella's laughter which made him smile. Troy made eye contact with her as he patted his knee for her to sit on. She skipped over and plopped down in his lap giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"Somebody is in a better mood," Troy teased.

Gabriella just giggled before sitting beside him and picking some of the food off his plate to eat. They all started talking about the upcoming basketball game when Gabriella stood up.

"Where are you going?" Troy asked suddenly alarmed.

"I'm going to the restroom is that ok with you?" She teased with her hands on her hips.

Troy squirmed in discomfort, "Is Taylor going with you?"

"No. I think I can pee by myself Troy," Gabriella said her voice turning serious when she sensed his discomfort, "I'll be fine. I promise."

Troy reluctantly nodded his head before giving her a quick kiss. Gabriella walked out of the lunchroom and made her to the restroom. She walked in and went into a stall locking the door. Gabriella heard the door open and the sound of laughter.

"That's amazing. I can't believe people believe her," one girl giggled.

"I dunno I mean I don't think-"

"NO!" the first girl spat, "Montez totally begged for what happened to her. I mean she's dating Bolton now. She's nothing but a whore, she's probably doing it for attention!"

"Melody's right. I think she just wants everyone to notice her," a third voice chimed in and Gabriella felt her stomach knot up at what the girls were discussing.

"Look at me, I'm Gabriella Montez. I got raped but that's okay because I have Troy Bolton and I can just flash that in everyone's faces," the first girl, Melody Howell - the cheerleading captain - mocked in a high pitched voice, causing the other girls to giggle.

Gabriella felt her breathing quicken and she quickly closed her eyes to stop the tears that were threatening to fall from her dark eyes.

She wondered how anyone could be so cruel, to not only suggest that she wasn't affected by what Brian had done to her, but to think, and convince others, that she was making up the latest attack.

"I bet she lead on Drake and James, and then when they were about to give her what she asked for she changed her mind," Came the voice of the second girl.

"I think you're right, Chloe. She's just lucky that Bolton was around otherwise she would've got what she deserved," Came the voice of the third girl, who Gabriella assumed was Phoebe, another cheerleader that was always seen with Melody and Chloe.

The cheerleaders finally finished in the bathroom and left, still giggling about Gabriella. Once she was certain they were gone Gabriella unlocked the stall and fled through the empty hallways, the tears finally falling down her cheeks, staining the bright red skin and dripping onto the floor below.

Gabriella quickly darted through the doors that led up to her and Troy's secret place, the rooftop garden, and once she reached the top of the stairs her body crumpled into a heap, her shoulders heaving as the sobs racked through her body.

Back in the cafeteria Troy was growing concerned with how long Gabriella was taking to get back from the bathroom.

"Troy, she'll be back in a minute," Taylor said softly, her hand wrapping around Troy's forearm in a comforting way.

Troy looked up at Taylor, his blue eyes were darkened with worry, as they met with Taylor's dark browns.

"I'm gunna go look for her, Tay." Troy said, covering Taylor's hand with his own and sending her a soft smile.

Taylor removed her hand and slid her body closer to Chad's, needing to feel his reassurance as Troy's worry rubbed off onto the two of them.

"Okay," Taylor replied softly, nodding in Troy's direction as he stood up from his seat before quickly exiting the bustling lunchroom, looking around the empty corridors as he tried to decide which of the nearby bathrooms his girlfriend would've gone in.

Having a gut instinct to go right he complied and headed towards the girl's bathroom, once he was in the corridor he suddenly realised he couldn't just waltz into the girl's bathroom if he didn't want to get in trouble, and he hoped there was a girl nearby he could ask for help.

Thankfully when he arrived at the bathroom a girl was exiting.

"Hey! Excuse me?" He called out to the girl, and she turned and looked at him. "Was Gabriella Montez in there?"

"There was nobody else in there." The girl replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders and Troy sighed out loud.

"Thanks," He said to the girl, spinning on the spot as she walked away, trying to decide where to try next. "The rooftop!" He suddenly cried out.

He hurried as fast as his long legs would take him down the corridor, the same one Gabriella had run down only minutes before him. Before he even opened the doors that led to the garden he could hear Gabriella's sobs and his heart felt like it was being ripped in two.

He raced up the stairs faster than he ever had in his life, tripping over his own feet several times, but still managing to reach the top.

Scooping Gabriella into his arms as he sunk to the floor Troy finally let his own tears start to fall, and he wondered if their lives would ever be the same as they were before Gabriella was raped.


	13. How Strong

Okay, I know this is really short, and I admit it's a filler, but I needed to write some cute Troyella before the next chapter

**Okay, I know this is really short, and I admit it's a filler, but I needed to write some cute Troyella before the next chapter, just to show how their relationship is progressing. So enjoy!**

The sound of Gabriella's sobs mixed with Troy's own to fill up the small space with heartbreaking sounds. Troy hated to see Gabriella cry, but he knew that she would talk to him when he was ready.

He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know what had caused her pain this time.

It was taking all of Troy's self control to not rush Gabriella back to his house and hide her in his bedroom until the whole ordeal had blown over.

Until he was sure there'd be no staring in the hallways, and the muttering in their classes, the sympathetic looks of the teachers, and the jealous looks of the other girls at Gabriella's hand being safely tucked into Troy's own.

Troy shook his head lightly, shaking out all the thoughts of revenge and protecting Gabriella, just needing to hold her until she was ready to talk.

The pair sat for almost twenty minutes, Gabriella curled into Troy's lap, until Gabriella's tears had stopped flowing and her body had stopped shaking. He gently moved her body away from his so he could look down at her tear stained face, needing to look into her eyes to make sure she was okay.

"Bee?" He asked gently, brushing a curl off her face, and fixing his eyes on her closed eyelids.

Gabriella slowly opened her eyes, the whites a vibrant red from her tears, the sparkling brown replaced with the almost black he'd seen that morning.

"Oh, baby," He cried, his voice choking as he pulled her body back against his, crushing her small frame as he hugged her tight, as if he was trying to squeeze out all the pain she was feeling.

"They said I deserved it. That I would've been asking for it," Gabriella whispered fiercely, anger surging through her weak body as she thought back to the girls' comments in the bathroom.

"They said what?" Troy asked in disbelief, pulling Gabriella away from him once more so he could look down at her as she told him what had turned her mood around.

"Chloe, Melody and Phoebe were in the bathroom when I went there. They were saying how I deserved what Brian did to me." Gabriella fought back her tears as she looked down at her lap, playing with her fingers nervously.

"They think you asked for that bastard to do those things to you?" Troy exploded. "That you asked for him to ruin your life? And for his friends to try and hurt you too?"

"Troy, please," Gabriella begged, cupping his face in her small, quivering hands. "Please just hold me."

Troy instantly stopped his rambling, and his face softened at his girlfriend's request.

"I'm sorry, Bee," He murmured into her neck, placing a soft kiss below her ear. "I knew I shouldn't of let you pee alone."

Gabriella giggled, despite the heavy weight of her heart. Somehow Troy was always able to make her forget the bad things in her life and she knew she was lucky to have him with her.

"I mean, girls always pee together, don't they? So it's not like it would've been odd for Taylor to go to the bathroom with you," Troy teased, kissing her forehead as she giggled again.

"Let's go back to lunch?" Gabriella asked, her tone turning serious.

"Are you up for it?" Troy asked, concern laced in his voice.

"Only if you're there by my side," Gabriella said, a soft smile covering her face as she took Troy's hand in her own.

"Always," Troy said back, squeezing her hand as he helped her to her feet.

Troy led them down the stairs and back into the school, holding her hand tighter as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

Troy was glad that he had a classes with Gabriella for the rest of the afternoon, not wanting to let her out of his sight, wanting to be able to protect her from everyone else in the world.

Gabriella dropped her gaze as the hallways started to fill with people, she took a step closer to Troy and he dropped her hand, wrapping an arm around her waist, drawing her as close as possible to him as they continued their walk to their history class.

They got their before any of the other students, and their teacher Mr. Roswell smiled a greeting as the pair claimed their normal seats, sitting down next to one another, their hands linking immediately, their gazes on the other person.

The sound of the other students entering the classroom drew the young couple away from each other, slightly hiding their connected hands, blushes tinting their cheeks as they realised how they had been staring at the other.

"Class, now class. Let's settle down and begin to work!" Mr. Roswell called the class to attention, stopping the whispers that had started when the other students had spotted Gabriella and Troy sitting closely together.

And for once, both Troy and Gabriella were glad for class to start.

--

Troy lay flat on his back on the floor of his bedroom, to his right were some discarded clothes, and to his left was Gabriella, sprawled across his floor in a similar fashion to Troy himself.

"I won," Troy boasted happily, his voice raspy.

"I'm not talking to you," Gabriella sulked, poking her tongue out childishly.

"You're gunna regret that, Montez," Troy teased, propping himself up on his elbows so he could look at his girlfriend better.

Gabriella's eyes were closed, a few darks curls were plastered to her forehead from the sweat she had worked up. Her cheeks were bright red and her lips were parted slightly, allowing her to breathe easier.

Troy thought that she looked like she'd just been ravished, when in an actual fact he'd just tickled her into submission after she refused to admit that he'd won their intense game of paper, scissors, rock.

"Will I?" Gabriella teased back, opening her eyes to reveal the once again sparkling brown eyes that Troy loved.

"Later. For now I need a hug," Troy stuck out his bottom lip in a pout as he lay back flat on the floor, opening his arms out to Gabriella.

Gabriella quickly crawled across the small space between their bodies and snuggled into Troy's side, both forgetting how uncomfortable the floor was underneath them.

"Thank you," Gabriella said softly, breaking the silence after a few minutes.

"Mm? For what?" Troy asked, continuing to run his fingers through her hair.

"For listening to me earlier and then distracting me," Gabriella answered, referring to the conversation her and Troy had earlier.

Troy thought back to the conversation, where Gabriella had told him all her fears about what people thought of her since the attacks, and how she was beginning to doubt if the whole thing really wasn't her fault.

"Well thank you," Troy retorted, after thinking for a minute.

"What'd I do?" Gabriella asked, a look of confusion spreading across her face.

"Sucked at paper, scissors, rock," Troy laughed, quickly moving from Gabriella's reach and scrambling onto his bed, watching as Gabriella took a second to register what he had said and then she was up off the floor, lunging herself at Troy's bed, landing on him.

"You're a moment ruiner, Troy Bolton! You've been hanging out with Chad too much," Gabriella scolded, straddling Troy's waist, her hands resting on his chest.

"And you talk too much, Gabriella Montez!" Troy teased, trying to mimic Gabriella's voice. "You've been hanging out with Taylor too much."

Gabriella swung her leg over Troy before sliding to the side of the bed and going to stand up. But before her feet hit the ground Troy's arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her down onto the bed next too him.

"You're not going anywhere, gorgeous," he whispered into her ear as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be," Gabriella giggled as she reached up and placed a soft kiss on Troy's cheek.


	14. Scar Tissue

"Bee, are you ready

**Here is the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

Gabriella took a deep breath as she quickly went over the opening song lyrics in her head.

Troy was standing next to her, breathing heavily, his nerves even more obvious than Gabriella's.

"Can we do this, Troy?" Gabriella asked, her voice cracking.

"Relax, baby. We can do this, you'll show Sharpay how a talented singer auditions," Troy said with a smile, running his thumb across her jaw line. "The real question is can I sing as well as you?"

"I think you'll both do well, your voices blend perfectly," came the soft voice of Kelsi behind them.

"Kels!" Gabriella squealed excitedly. "I'm auditioning!"

"And you're going to get a callback, and then the part, and you two are going to show those blonde Barbie twins what a real musical is about!" Kelsi replied, her voice sounding more fierce than either Troy or Gabriella had heard and the three burst out laughing.

"Okay, Kelsi, let's calm down now," Troy teased the smaller girl. "I don't want our pianist too excited to sit and play our song."

"Troy!" Gabriella scolded, and Troy laughed, thinking about how much this felt like the old times with Gabriella, being carefree and playful, but he knew that she, deep down, was just as nervous as him about singing.

Gabriella was perhaps more nervous than Troy because she knew that people were still blurting out rumors left and right about what had gone on between her and her attackers, and about why her and Troy were together.

As much as Gabriella took her friends' advice and ignored the remarks she couldn't help but let a few get to her, a few that she didn't want to share with anyone.

"Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton?" Came Ms Darbus's voice and Gabriella took a final breath, nodding to Troy and then following him onto the stage.

Focusing her gaze on Troy and trying her hardest to forget the other people in the auditorium Gabriella felt her stomach tighten as the first notes of the song began to play, followed by Troy's voice.

This was it. Gabriella was either going to sing beautifully like she knew she would, or crash and burn like she knew many hoped she would.

**We're soarin', flyin'  
There's not a star in heaven  
That we can't reach  
**_If we're trying  
So we're breaking free_  
You **know the world can see us  
In a way that's different than who we are  
**_Creating space between us  
'Til we're separate hearts_  
But your faith it gives me strength  
Strength to believe

**We're breakin' free**  
_We're soarin'_  
**Flyin' **  
There's not a star in heaven  
That we can't reach  
**If we're trying**  
Yeah, we're breaking free  
**Oh, we're breakin' free**  
_Ohhhh_  
**Can you feel it building  
Like a wave the ocean just can't control**  
_Connected by a feeling  
Ohhh, in our very souls_  
Rising 'til it lifts us up  
So every one can see

**We're breakin' free**  
_We're soarin'_  
**Flyin' **  
There's not a star in heaven  
That we can't reach  
**If we're trying  
Yeah we're breaking free**  
_Ohhhh runnin'_  
**Climbin'  
To get to that place**  
To be all that we can be  
**Now's the time**  
So we're breaking free  
**We're breaking free**  
_Ohhh , yeah  
_  
**More than hope  
More than faith**  
_This is true  
This is fate  
And together_  
We see it comin'  
**More than you  
More than me**_  
Not a want, but a need_  
Both of us breakin' free

_Soarin' _  
**Flyin' **  
There's not a star in heaven  
That we can't reach  
If we're trying  
**Yeah we're breaking free**  
_Breaking free  
Were runnin'_  
**Ohhhh, climbin'**  
To get to the place  
To be all that we can be  
Now's the time  
**Now's the time**  
So _we're breaking free_  
**Ohhh, we're breaking free**  
_Ohhhh_

You know the world can see us  
In a way that's different than who we are

--

"Bee, are you ready?" Troy called out, knocking gently on the bathroom door.

It was Friday afternoon and Troy was waiting to take Gabriella to her counseling appointment, the first since the second attack.

Troy knew that Gabriella was stalling time, not wanting to talk to Dr. Wright about both the attack and the way that people had been acting to her at school since.

"I don't need to go to see a counselor, Troy," Gabriella called back through the door and Troy could hear the pout in her voice.

"I think you do, Brie," Troy said gently, not wanting to upset her more than she was already.

The bathroom door opened and Gabriella came out, dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a red wife beater underneath a white beater.

"Why do I need to go to this, Troy? I'm not crazy," Gabriella argued, walking past Troy, avoiding his gaze.

Troy swiftly caught her around the waist, pulling her to him in a hug.

"You're not crazy, Bee. But if you don't go and talk to someone about this, who knows what could happen."

"I'm talking to you about it," Gabriella argued, playing with the hairs on the back of Troy's neck as she spoke.

"I know you are, baby. But you need to talk to someone who's not involved. And I promise we'll come home, eat pizza and watch a movie, whatever one you want to watch," Troy promised, stroking Gabriella's hair gently.

"I don't want to go," Gabriella pouted.

"I wish I didn't have to force you to go, but I can't see you going back to the way you were the first time. I don't want to lose you."

"Fine," Gabriella sighed, twisting herself out of Troy's arms in a huff, knowing she'd lost the argument.

"You can't go out without a top," Troy stated, hurrying over to his bed and picking up his white warm-up jacket before he followed Gabriella out of the room, catching her gently around the waist as she went to take the first step down the stairs.

"Troy!" She shrieked, getting a slight fright as he pulled her away from the stairs, spinning her around to face him.

"Brie, baby. Please don't be mad at me for making you go to your counselor," Troy begged, locking his bright blue eyes on Gabriella's chocolate brown, not allowing her to be able to break away from his intense gaze. "Please put the jacket on and let me give you a hug."

Gabriella rolled her eyes at Troy's treating her like she was fragile, but deep down she appreciated it, wanting nothing more than to crawl into his lap and hide her face in his neck, hiding from the rest of the world for a few months.

Troy held out the jacket and with a soft sigh Gabriella allowed him to slip the jacket onto her tiny body, zipping it up halfway before he smiled softly at her.

"Hug?" He asked childishly, holding out his arms to her and Gabriella eagerly stepped into the hug, allowing Troy to hold her tightly, reassuring her through his embrace, letting her know that everything would work out, because he was there for her.

"Let's get going, superstar," Gabriella said softly, stepping away from Troy and taking his hand in her own.

"The Troy Bolton magic works again," Troy muttered to himself under his breath as he noticed a change in Gabriella's demeanor just from his reassuring hug.

"What'd you say?" Gabriella asked and Troy just smiled down at her.

"Nothing, Bee," Troy replied as he kissed the top of her head before leading her downstairs to his truck.

--

Troy looked up as he heard the door to the counselor's office open and Gabriella stepped out of it.

He stood up to walk over to her when he noticed her red eyes, a true indication she had been crying.

Quickly wrapping her up in his arms Troy held her close to him, feeling her body relax into his as she composed herself before leaning away from him slightly, smiling weakly up at him, his blue eyes darkened with concern.

"Let's get outta here?" She asked, her voice quivering and Troy quickly took her small hand in his own, lacing their fingers together as he led her out of the waiting room and to the elevator.

Once they were safely in Troy's truck Gabriella scrambled into his lap and let the tears flow once more.

Troy rocked her shaking body as he let her get all her emotions out, waiting for her to be ready to tell him what she had talked to her counselor about.

Gabriella didn't want to admit to Troy what she had discussed with Dr. Wright that afternoon, a comment she hadn't told Troy about after the auditions had been eating away at her.

What if she couldn't let Troy get physically close to her after Brain raping her? What if she lost him because she couldn't get the memory of Brain out of her head?

When she had calmed down she slipped out of his lap and sat instead in the middle seat of his truck, her hand on his knee as she shot him a weak smile.

"Can you take me home please, Troy?"

Troy felt sadness take over him as he heard the hurt in Gabriella's voice, and he desperately wanted her to tell him what was the matter, but he also knew that he couldn't push her.

"Okay, Bee," He replied, starting up the truck and putting it into gear before starting the drive home.

Neither spoke for the 20 minute drive back to Troy's and when Troy pulled his truck into his driveway and looked down at his girlfriend he noticed she was fast asleep, her face looking much more peaceful than it had when they had left the counselor's and for that he was glad, even if it was only temporary peace for her.

Sliding out the truck carefully, Troy pulled Gabriella out after him, cradling her in his arms as he managed to maneuver his way to the front door, and somehow into the house.

Carrying her petite body upstairs Troy finally made it to his bedroom setting Gabriella into the middle of the bed before leaving to have a quick shower while she slept, figuring it was going to be a long weekend, all thoughts of the audition they had performed earlier in the day were forgotten about as Troy tried to decide what could've upset Gabriella so much.

The reason was something that hadn't even occurred to Troy.


	15. Teenager In Love

A/N: Okay, so my writing muse is on some kinda extended vacation or something, so I'm actually having trouble writing, so that

**A/N: Okay, so my writing muse is on some kinda extended vacation or something, so I'm actually having trouble writing, so that's why this ends in a somewhat odd spot, I just went completely blank, so I apologize for that one.**

When Gabriella woke from her nap just over an hour later Troy was back downstairs sitting on the couch with Gabriella curled up asleep at the other end. His dull eyes were staring blankly at the screen in front of him, not even having bothered turning the tv on.

"Interesting show, superstar?" Gabriella asked with a yawn as she woke up and took in her boyfriend's tense posture and his hardened face staring at the off television set.

Troy startled slightly at Gabriella's voice, blinking several times before he turned to face her, shooting her a weak smile.

"Troy, what's wrong?" Gabriella asked, scooting along the couch until she was sitting on her knees next to Troy, her body facing him, a worried look etched on her face.

"Nothing, Brie," Troy replied trying to wrap his arm around Gabriella's waist to pull her to him, but Gabriella pushed his arm away gently.

"No, Troy, something's wrong, please," Gabriella begged, her soft voice threatening to break Troy.

He'd decided not to let her know that he was worried about what had happened at her counseling session, deciding it was best if she told him on her own accord.

"Gabriella, it's nothing," Troy replied, standing up and walking across to the other side of the room, staring out the window.

Gabriella flinched at the sound of her full name coming out of her boyfriend's mouth. She was unsure if she should try to coax his worries out of him or if she should just leave him to talk about it when he wanted to.

She got up slowly off the couch, unfolding her thin body out from under herself before she drifted to where Troy stood facing the window.

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's waist, slipping her left hand under his shirt and letting her fingers dance across his sculpted stomach.

"Gabriella," Troy managed to choke out as he twisted out of her reach and headed out the room. He stopped for a second and looked over his shoulder. "I'll see you at dinner."

Gabriella watched him leave the room, his feet hitting the stairs heavily as he raced up them to his bedroom.

She slowly followed the same path as he had, and when she reached the door to his bedroom she found it closed, and she knew that it was best to leave him to work out whatever was going on in his head, because it was obvious he wasn't ready to talk about it.

Gabriella headed further down the hallway til she reached the bedroom her things were stored in while she was staying, she usually only came into this room to get her clothes in the morning before school and again to get something to wear to bed if she wasn't wearing something of Troy's already.

Sitting on the edge of the bed Gabriella let her head sink into her hands, the tears she'd been holding in since Troy first called her Gabriella finally flowing from her eyes as she wondered what she possibly could've done to make Troy feel hurt.

Meanwhile Troy was sitting in a similar position in his own bedroom, he had somehow reached the conclusion that Gabriella had decided that she didn't love him, that she was just confused with what had happened with Brian and now that she was thinking a little more clearly she had realised that she only thought of him as a friend.

Troy's heart had broken when she had gotten close to him in the living room, and he'd had to flee before she saw him crying. He hadn't seen the tears welling up in her eyes as he left the room, because if he had of, then he would've know that Gabriella was hurt by his reactions to her since she had woken up.

After a half hour of thinking Troy got up off his bed, stretching his muscles slowly since they had tensed up with the way he was sitting stooped over on his bed.

He slowly made his way down to Gabriella's bedroom, taking a deep breath before he opened the door.

Gabriella's head shot up at the sound of the door opening, her red rimmed eyes met with Troy's equally red eyes and she dropped her gaze back to the floor.

"If you want to break up just tell me," Troy said quickly, dropping his own gaze once the sentence was out his mouth.

"Break up?" Gabriella questioned, her voice cracking as a new flow of tears started at his assumption.

"That's why you were sad after your appointment. You've realised you only like me as a friend and you don't know how to break up with me," Troy reasoned. "But it's alright, I'll break up with you so you don't have to do it."

"You think I want to break up with you? You think I don't love you?" Gabriella almost yelled.

"You don't have to deny it, Gabriella."

"Maybe we should break up if you don't think I love you," Gabriella whispered angrily. "I can't believe you, Troy Bolton."

Gabriella went to storm past Troy when he grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her to stand back in front of him.

"Don't walk out, tell me what I did wrong," Troy demanded.

"What you did wrong? You're assuming, that's your fucking problem," Gabriella spat out.

"So you weren't upset because you wanted to break up?" Troy asked, his voice suddenly softer, raising his light blue eyes to connect with Gabriella's fiery brown ones.

"I was upset because I realised that maybe I won't be able to get physically close to you when you expect it, because of my memories of Brian," Gabriella spun away from Troy as she felt more tears start to slide down her flushed cheeks, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"Oh," Troy said softly. "So you don't want to break up?"

Gabriella shook her head and Tory felt his heart sink, realizing what a bad assumption he had made, wondering what he had really been thinking and how much he had probably just hurt Gabriella when she needed him to be not just her boyfriend but her best friend as well.

"Brie, I'm sorry," He said softly, taking a step towards his girlfriend who's shoulders were now shaking as she sobbed.

"How could you think I didn't love you?" Gabriella choked out as Troy wrapped his arms around her waist, the same as she had done to him in the living room earlier.

"I.. I don't know," Troy stammered, wondering how he had come up with his conclusion in the first place.

"Do _you_ love me?" Gabriella asked, spinning around to face Troy, the hurt evident in her eyes.

"Of course I do!" Troy exclaimed, stepping closer to Gabriella until she was backed up against the wall with a very small space between their bodies. "Don't even doubt I do."

"You doubted me," Gabriella pointed out, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I didn't mean to," Troy whispered back, lifting Gabriella's chin until she was looking up at him.

"But you did Troy, whether or not you meant to, you thought I didn't love you, and that hurts."

"Brie," Troy started, but he was cut off by his Mom calling out that dinner was ready.

Gabriella ducked under Troy's arm and left the room, leaving Troy standing wondering how he was going to fix this.

--

After an awkward dinner Troy and Gabriella found themselves in Troy's bedroom, Troy was sitting on the edge of his bed and Gabriella paced the floor in front of him, neither of them had said a word in the five minutes that had passed since Troy had thanked his parents for dinner and dragged Gabriella upstairs to talk.

"Brie," he started and Gabriella froze mid step at his voice. "Please sit down and talk to me."

"So you can accuse me of something else?" Gabriella spat out, but she sat down on the bed none the less, crossing her legs as she kept a reasonable distance between herself and Troy.

"I was an idiot for that, please believe me,' Troy begged.

"Whatever," Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt.

The pair sat in silence for a few more minutes, Gabriella was trying to figure out an excuse to leave the room while Troy was trying to think of a way to carefully word what he wanted to talk to Gabriella about.

"You know that I'd never pressure you into doing anything, right?" He blurted out suddenly shocking both himself and Gabriella.

"I know," Gabriella replied softly.

"And I know that you love me, I don't know what I was thinking doubting that," Troy carried on, shifting himself closer to Gabriella slowly so that she didn't startle and move away from him.

"I do love you," Gabriella replied, her voice stronger.

"And I love you, Brie. You're my best friend and my girlfriend, and I'm so lucky to have you. I almost lost you twice and I don't want to lose you because I was an idiot and made a stupid assumption."

"You're not going to lose me."

"I hope not, because I don't care if you take ten years to be ready to do more than kiss me, I'll wait for as long as it takes, okay?" Troy lifted his hand up from it's position on his knee and gently tucked a curl behind Gabriella's ear, letting his hand linger on her cheek.

"Promise?" Gabriella asked, closing her eyes at the feel of Troy's hand on her face.

"I promise," Troy whispered, leaning in to place a chaste kiss on Gabriella's lips. "I love you, Brie."

"I love you too, Troy." Gabriella whispered, shifting her body slightly until she was cuddled into Troy's side.

The pair sat on Troy's bed, enjoying the now pleasant silence that had taken over the room until Troy moved to lay back on his pillows, bringing Gabriella to lay next to him, curled up on her side with her head on his shoulder.

**A/N: To those who read Body Flow, a new chapter should be up by Monday, it's almost written, I just need to finish up a few parts! Don't forget those lovely reviews :)!**


	16. Author's Note

A/N: Okay, so as you might've noticed I went off this story

**A/N: Okay, so as you might've noticed I went off this story. It never really went to plan, so now that my life is getting quite busy with working and trying to sort out stuff for college next year I think it's time I left this story where it is, rather than feeling guilty for not having time to update it.**

**I feel bad for doing it, but I've tried to write for this story and gone absolutely nowhere because nothing I write seems to work, so my best choice is to leave it here rather than produce things I'm not happy with in order to finish this story (which only had 3 chapters left anyway). **

**I will continue Body Flow, and I'm in the process of developing a new story, plus a few possible co writing projects (check out kirsandstaceftw for some M rated Troyella oneshots cowritten with dancinluva20).**

**So thanks for everyone's support, and I'm sorry I couldn't finish this story, maybe one day I'll rewrite it, because I feel as an author I've grown since I started this story and it just doesn't reach my personal standards anymore.**

**Thanks again.**

**Stace.**


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